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Breeding and Feeding 
Dairy Cattle 



Publlthttd by 

FRED L. KIMBALL CO 

Waterloo, Iow« 




How to Feed the Dairy Cow 

Breeding and Feeding 
Dairy Cattle 



By 

Hugh G.Van Pelt 

Editor 
Kimball's Dairy Farmer 



These articles originally appeared in 

Kimball's Dairy Farmer during the 

years of 1915, 1916 and 1917 



WATERLOO, IOWA, U. S. A. 

FRED L. KIMBALL COMPANY 

1919 






How to Feed the Dairy Cow 



Copyright, 1919, by 
FRED L. KIMBALL COMPANY. 



First Edition 
February, 1919. 



27 !9(9 



Printed in United States of America. 



©CI.A530019 



Table of Contents 



Chapter p^^^ 

Introduction. Breeding and Feeding Dairy Cattle 9-22 

I. Five Things to Consider About Feeds 23-29 

II. Composition and Cost of Feeds 30-34 

III. Corn and Its By-Products 35-53 

IV. Wheat and Its By-products 54-63 

V. Oats 64-71 

V'l. Flax and Its By-Products 72-76 

VII. Rye and Rye Shorts 77-80 

VIII . Barley and Its By-Products 81-86 

IX. Distillers' Dried Grains 87-89 

X. Cottonseed Meal 90-94 

XI. Root Crops 95-99 

XII. Dried Beet Pulp : 100-103 

XIII. Mixed Feeds 104-108 

XIV. Silage 109-118 

XV. Corn Stover . . 119-121 

XVI. Timothy Hay 122-124 

XVII. Straw 125-127 

XVIII. Other Carbonaceous Roughages 128-131 

XIX. Soiling Crops 132-144 

XX. Roughage from Small Grain and Millet . 145-148 

XXL Sorghum> 149-153 

XXII. Legumes 154-158 

XXIII. Alfalfa 159-166 

XXIV. Sweet Clover 167-169 

XXV. Clover 170-5173 

XXVI. Soy Beans 174-176 

XXVII. Cowpeas 177-179 

XXVIII. Other Leguminous Roughages 180-182 

XXIX. Other Leguminous Roughages 183-185 

XXX. Miscellaneous Feeds 186-195 

XXXI. Packing House By-Products 196-200 

XXXII. Applying the Knowledge of Feeds 201-206 

XXXIII. Feeding the Dry Cow 207-215 

XXXIV. Milk Fever 216-221 

XXXV. Feed and Care After Freshening 222-243 

XXXVI. Feeding Test Cows .244 

XXXVII. Care and Management of Test Cows 245-249 

XXXVIII. Milking the Cow Correctly 250^263 

XXXIX. Care and Management of the Herd Bull 264-268 

XL. The Care of the Calf 265-286 

XLI. Fitting Animals for Sale 287-290 



How to Feed the Dairy Cow 

BREEDING AND FEEDING 
DAIRY CATTLE 



[An Introduction to the book on ^'Feeding 
the Dairy Cow."] 



The value of a herd of dairy cattle depends upon the methods 
employed in the breeding and feeding. Other factors enter in to assist 
or retard the efforts of the breeder, but, regardless of all skill em- 
ployed in otherwise managing the herd, to ignore the laws of breed- 
ing and the principles of feeding is to invite failure. 

Breeding and feeding go hand in hand. He who applies the 
principles of feeding and disregards the laws of breeding, or vice 
versa, cannot realize the greatest success. 

It matters little how well bred the sire and dam may be, im- 
proper feeding will dwarf the traits of excellence that should be 
transmitted to the offspring. 

Again, it matters little how expert the feeder, little will be accom- 
plished if the animals are poorly bred, and he who would succeed 
in attaining either wealth or fame by improperly feeding cattle 
descended from mediocre breeding has but one chance in a thousand 
of realizing his aim. 

I am at present, however, a breeder and feeder of dairy cattle, 
and I believe those phases of the subject which may be put to prac- 
tical use for increasing production and insuring improvement of 
future herds will be more welcome to my readers than a discussion 
of the scientific laws that underlie breeding and feeding. 

To attain success in any business it is necessary to have a proper 
starting point and then to proceed in the right direction. Failure is 
often the result of starting wrong and proceeding in the wrong direc- 
tion or traveling in circles. This is more true of the breeding of 
livestock than of nearly any other business, for the one who starts 
with the wrong sire and continues to use sires of this kind forever 
travels in the wrong direction. He walks on a tread power, and, 
though he keeps everlastingly at it, never arrives. He who alternates 
good sires with poor sires travels in circles. He progresses at times, 
but usually finishes up at about the same point from which he started. 

The breeder who is walking in the tread power or traveling in 
circles — and many of us are guilty — must start over before he can 



^0 Feeding THE Dairy Cow 

expect to succeed. If he would attain his purpose he must first have 
clearly in mind what his purpose is. If he would breed cows of great 
producing capacity he must mate his animals with that end in view. 
If he would breed cows with show-yard characteristics he must follow 
systematically the path which leads to purple ribbons. 

Comparatively speaking, these roads are smooth and well trod- 
den, but if he could breed cattle possessed at once of great and eco- 
nomical milk and butter-producing qualities together with show-yard 
characteristics — beauty, type and conformation — he will find a rougher 
road, for it is traveled less than the tread powers and circles for either 
of the pathways leading to the productive cow or the beautiful show- 
ring champion. 

It is for the breeder himself to decide definitely just what kind of 
an animal he will breed. He must have a clearly defined mind's-eye 
picture of the image he would mold by the persistent and intelligent 
mingling of blood lines through a lifetime of effort. If production is 
his desire, bulls from long lines of producing ancestry must be used. 
The greatest of all laws of breeding — like begets like — is as true 
today as in the days of Cruickshank, Booth, Bates, Hugh Watson 
and many others whose names will live in history as long as the 
cattle breeding industry survives. If he desires to breed excellence of 
type, form and conformation, the slogan now threadbare with age is 
true : ''Breed from the winners." 

Truly believing it possible, yet realizing that the process is more 
difficult to breed great producers possessing acceptable type, con- 
formation and beauty than to secure either feature Avithout the other, 
my suggestions will be along that line. 

The starting point is in the bull pen. Analyze your bull. De- 
mand that he shall come up to a rigid standard of excellence, and 
follow up that demand by replacing him with another bull if he does 
not. 

If your mind's-eye picture calls for a cow that yields annually 
500 pounds of butterfat, make sure your bull's feminine ancestors 
for six generations Avere cows that could perform at that rate; also 
that the paternal ancestors were progenitors of such cows. Perhaps 
the pedigree does not show them with such records, but it should 
indicate that the ability to make those records was present. I say 
all ancestors, and I specify six generations of ancestors, for a 
bull, although more likely to transmit the characteristics of his . 
dam, will also transmit characteristics of his more remote 
ancestors. That is why Holstein- calves sometimes come red 
and white and Aberdeen Angus calves come all red, though not for 



Breeding and Feeding Dairy Cattle 11 

scores of years have these foreign colors been accepted to registra- 
tion. This reversion to species is common to all kinds of livestock. 

You can journey but once from the cradle to the grave. Do not 
let your epitaph read that you made the journey w^ith a dairy bull 
that did not possess the first fundamental qualities of dairy breeding 

If the bull's pedigree is acceptable in the important respects 
mentioned, you are ready to proceed. If your ambitions call for more 
than production alone, secure description of the conformation of the 
same ancestry. Look for show-yard records. Remember that the 
present-day greatness of all breeds of beef cattle, draft horses and 
other domestic animals is largely the result of the mating of prize 
winners and thus preserving their blood. 

If no prize winnings are to be found in his pedigree, bear in 
mind that he who attends great shows without his cattle and claims 
he has better individuals at home is probably less than 90 per cent 
right, and that your herd bull, even though a good individual himself, 
may not transmit with certainty his own conformation, for like 
either begets like or the likeness of an ancestor. 

If your bull fails here, dispose of him, but if in each respect the 
pedigree is acceptable, study the bull himself, remembering that 
"like begets like as well as the likeness of an ancestor." 

Your mind's-eye picture of the cow you would breed is clearly 
defined. She must be good all over. 

Starting at the head to insure systematic procedure, it is a recog- 
nized fact that a large mouth indicates a good feeder; a large nostril, 
constitution ; a face clean cut and of good length, well dished between 
large, prominent, bright eyes points to excellence of dairy tempera- 
ment. 

These, being desirable in the cow, are also necessary in the sire 
that he may transmit them, thus insuring their prominence in the 
next generation. Furthermore, the head of the bull must, through 
its appearance of masculinity, indicate strength of character and pre- 
potency. It matters not how excellent in breeding and individuality 
a bull may be ; if he does not have the prepotent power necessary to 
stamp on his get his characteristics and those of his ancestors, he 
is of little value. The effeminate sire permits the cows of the herd to 
stamp the various points peculiar to themselves and their progenitors, 
thus eliminating the uniformity of type, conformation and produc- 
tiveness. 

The neck of the cow should be of good length, blending neatly 
into shoulders free from beefiness and with the backbone slightly 
protruding above, insuring a wedge-shaped conformation. The sire — 
though because of masculinity bearing a heavier-crested neck — should 



12 Feeding the Dairy Cow 

also possess length in this part and shoulders bearing close resem- 
blance to those of the desired cow, that his offspring may conform 
to the requirement. 

As surely as it is desirable to have cows long from the shoulders 
to the hip bones, well sprung in the ribs, open-jointed and free from 
beefiness along the backbone, deep in the body, with a covering of 
soft, pliable and elastic hide, which in turn is covered with soft and 
silky hair, these qualifications must also be presented by the sire if 
they are to be expected in his offspring. 

Prominent hip bones are desirable in the dairy cow, and great 
length and straightness from these points to the pin bones insure 
length of udder and one that carries well forward with front quarters 
well rounded out. Therefore, it is very essential that the sire that is 
expected to impress these characteristics on the next generation 
should comply with this conformation. 

The cow of your dream must have a broad udder attached high 
behind. To be thus possessed she must be well arched between thin, 
incurving thighs. Cows that are beefy in the hind quarters lack place 
of attachment for long, broad udders. 

To insure this essential it is necessary that sires used in the 
attempt to secure the ideal cow must be thin of thigh, cut high up 
and well arched out in the hind quarters. 

That cows of great capacity and ability may utilize the milk- 
making nutrients digested from foods consumed, there must be an 
abundance of blood circulating from the digestive organs carrying 
these nutrients to the udder. The volume of this circulation is indi- 
cated by large, long and tortuous milk veins and by large and nu- 
merous milk wells. Cows with short, straight, small veins and only 
two small milk wells will seldom be found to be 500-pound cows. 
Bulls vary almost as greatly as cows in these respects. Therefore, 
the sire should be well veined. 

Rudimentaries, if small and placed close together on the sire, 
indicate that his daughters will have small teats placed close to- 
gether. 

With all details of form and conformation approaching perfec- 
tion the sire must possess size, color markings, style and general ap- 
pearance in keeping with the breed he represents. If your bull is 
extremely faulty in any of these requirements when in proper condi- 
tion, life is too short and good bulls are too plentiful for you to use 
him unless he is especially valuable in correcting certain defects in 
your herd without incurring worse ones. 

By the use of even the very best sires disappointments occur. 
Pfogress is slow. Breeders do not accomplish great success in one 



Breeding and Feeding Dairy Cattle 13 

generation of breeding. Even a lifetime honestly and intelligently- 
employed is too short a period for most breeders to realize their am- 
bitions where lack of experience or financial restrictions compel them 
to start with a heterogeneous collection of females. 

More often advancement is retarded by improper selection of a 
good herd bull's successor than by the use of the wrong bull in the 
beginning. When a bull is placed in service, your efforts to secure 
his successor should immediately begin. The time between the use 
of the first bull and the breeding age of his daughters is almost too 
short for locating just the right bull. Fortunate is the breeder who. 
in a lifetime, is successful enough to control the services of one out- 
standing sire; and doubly fortunate is he who makes no mistake in 
selecting sires that will improve upon or even perpetuate the good 
qualities transmitted by one renowned sire. 

Outcrossing and inbreeding are uncertain tools in the hands of 
the breeder who strives for certain and uniform results. Either 
method properly employed will insure some excellent animals, but, 
because they are radical procedures, they are liable to interfere with 
uniform results, which means that a great many inferior offspring 
are liable to come along with a few excellent ones by following pro- 
miscuously either inbreeding or outcrossing. 

A more certain method is line breeding, which differs from in- 
breeding in that it consists of mating animals remotely related rather 
than those closely related. Owing to the fact that the greatness of 
the progeny of a sire comes largely through his dam, one excellent 
plan of line breeding is that of using a second bull whose dam is the 
best sister of the first bull's dam and whose sire — furnishing as he 
does the mild outcrossing blood — is more remotely related, if at all, 
and possesses in his individuality and that of his ancestors the quali- 
ties necessary for correcting the small defects transmitted by the 
preceding sire. When the calves of the second sire approach breed- 
ing age, provided the first sire used has proved worthy, it will be 
advisable in some instances to breed them to him — their grandsire. 

In other instances an excellent son of the first sire — out of a 
highly . productive cow possessing no fault in common with the off- 
spring of the first sire — may advantageously be used on the daughters 
of the second sire. Such is line breeding in the case of the second 
sire used and line breeding approaching mbreeding in the last two 
instances suggested. 

If the breeder has made no mistake up to this point, and the 
heifer calves promise to approach the perfection of his ideal, then 
he is in a position to breed and develop his own bulls and continue 
line breeding until perfection, as his eye outlines it, has been reached. 



14 Feeding the Dairy Cow 

The time has then arrived when close inbreeding may be advis- 
able to intensify the blood lines which have attained success, so that 
the approved type, conformation and production may be retained in 
the herd. From that time forward line breeding is advisable, for- 
eign blood being introduced gradually and judiciously. Radical out- 
crossing at this point is absolutely dangerous and excusable only on 
the grounds of fancy and faddism, for, not knowing how foreign 
blood is going to nick with the herd, a lifetime of persistent, careful 
effort may be destroyed by the use of one bull, even though he him- 
self is a good individual and carries blood lines not to be faulted 
from the standpoint of the family to which he belongs. 

Countless other facts pertaining to breeding might well be 
enumerated, but I have thus far neglected to mention the second 
phase of my subject — that of feeding dairy cows. 

With Proper Breeding Goes Proper Feeding 

With the intelligent employment of the breeding principles re- 
ferred to only meagre results will be accomplished unless equally 
efficient methods of feeding are followed. 

In order that the sire may transmit to the fullest degree his own 
good qualities and those of his ancestors he must be intelligently 
fed and managed. A rule followed by most successful breeders is 
that of keeping their sires in good, healthful condition but on the 
lean side at all periods sO that when the heaviest breeding season 
arrives they may, by increasing the feed, encourage the bull to be 
gradually gaining in weight. This strong and most healthful condi- 
tion materially adds to his prepotency. 

Bulls emaciated from lack of nutritious food, or those plethoric 
because of an over abundance of food and lack of exercise usually 
beget offspring disappointing to the breeder. Therefore, any sys- 
tem of breeding and management that will provide exercise and keep 
the sire in reasonable flesh and excellent health is advisable. 

It is equally necessary that the females of the herd be properly 
nourished, not alone for the stimulation of milk and butterfat produc- 
tion but also for the upbuilding of their offspring, the nourishment 
for which can be secured from no other source than from the mother 
during the entire period of gestation. 

It is a well known fact that the foetus makes its largest growth 
during the last six weeks of gestation. It is also known that the calf 
at birth is made up almost entirely of protein, mineral matter and 
water — there being very little, if any, fat in his body. It is known, 
in the third place, that the only nutrients in foodstuffs which go to 
manufacture cartilage, bone, muscle, blood, hair and hide are protein 
and mineral matter. Therefore, if the ration provided for the mother 



Breeding and Feeding Dairy Cattle 15 

is lacking in these essential nutrients, or if she is compelled to con- 
tinue milking up to freshening time, she must draw upon her own 
body to nourish the calf, with the result that the future of calves 
nourished under such conditions is very largely sacrificed before thej 
are born. It is undoubtedly for this reason that calf scours, cholera, 
pneumonia and the scores of other diseases which play so much havoc 
on dairy farms exist. They are occasioned by the fact that so few 
breeders realize the necessity of beginning to feed the calf properly 
prior to birth. This is one good reason why the cow should be turned 
dry six or eight weeks before freshening. 

While the cow is dry she should be abundantly and judiciously 
fed, for the following things are required : First, the foetus must be 
developed; second, the cow's digestive apparatus needs a rest; third, 
flesh, strength and stamina are to be placed in possession of the cow 
to enable her to campaign well during the coming period of lactation. 

Common sense reasoning in this matter has established a bal- 
anced ration, for, in fact, the terms "common sense ration" and "bal- 
anced ration" are synonymous. The balanced ration is nothing more 
nor less than a ration that will accomplish a purpose more efficiently 
and more economically than any other ration and differs as the pur- 
pose desired changes. In other Avords, a ration balanced for a cow 
at one period is not a balanced ration for the same cow at another 
period. 

Successful feeding depends upon the ability of the feeder to de- 
termine accurately the purposes to be accomplished, and a knowledge 
of the physical and chemical properties of available foodstuffs that 
will enable him to combine them that an efficient, common sense, bal- 
anced ration results. Thus it is that by analyzing existing conditions 
a ration at once suitable to developing an unborn calf and condition- 
ing the cow may be formulated. If it be summer time, nothing excels 
good pasturage or green food as a basic ration, but if in winter, sub- 
stitutes in the form of corn silage and beet pulp or other succulent 
food should be used freely in conjunction with some leguminous hay, 
such as clover, alfalfa, sweet clover, cowpea, soy bean or Canada 
peas and oat hay. 

Whether summer or winter conditions exist, a concentrated ra- 
tion properly balanced should be fed. Four or six weeks is not a 
long time, and quick conditioning necessitates a variety of feeds. As 
a rule, a grain ration consisting of two parts ground oats, one part 
oil meal, one part bran and one part corn meal will prove efficient. 
The amount fed daily depends upon the feeding qualities and condi- 
tion of the cow. As a rule from 6 to 12, or even 16, pounds of the 
mixture may be fed daily to good advantage. It should be borne in 



16 Feeding the Dairy Cow 

mind that feed given during the resting period is far from wasted. 
Even though the cow returns nothing directly, she is making good 
use of it, and later will return more profit for feed consumed while 
she is dry than for that eaten at any other period. 

As freshening time approaches, if the feeding has been judi- 
ciously performed, the cow will begin rounding into bloom and de- 
veloping an udder to the fullness of her capacity. It is true that more 
careful attention will be necessitated at freshening than though she 
were permitted to calve in poorer flesh. Careful and skillful manage- 
ment will suffice to bring her through parturition safely, and every 
feeder should consider it a part of his education to know how to 
manage his cows for securing greatest results. 

Three days or so before the cow is to freshen her grain ration 
should be eliminated and in its stead bran mashes composed of three 
or four pounds of bran thoroughly moistened and well salted should 
be given at regular feeding hours, in addition to the roughage which, 
being of a laxative nature, may be continued. 

It is never advisable to permit a valuable cow to calve without 
attendance. If she is a heavy producer under natural conditions, 
much greater yields may be expected as a result of special fitting. 
Furthermore, udder troubles and milk fever are more liable to occur. 
It is quite generally conceded, however, that if feeding operations 
are such that the cow's digestive tract is kept in a loose, laxative 
condition and little, if any, milk be taken from the udder, except by 
the calf, for the first 48 hours, the danger from milk fever is reduced 
to a minimum. The thought of the careful feeder and herdsman, 
however, is always of the welfare of his charge, so he will watch her 
closely day and night until the danger of parturient paralysis has 
passed, so that, should the slightest symptoms occur, the air treat- 
ment may be put to use and sickness forestalled before it has ad- 
vanced far enough to be weakening in its effect. In case of milk fever 
all feeding must cease until the cow is again on her feet and quite 
enough recovered to have regained her appetite. 

It is well to leave the calf with its mother the first two or three 
days, for this assists greatly in relieving the inflammation of the ud- 
der and in keeping the cow quiet. As a rule, when 48 hours have 
passed, if all has gone well, the calf should be taken away, for the 
mother is ready to begin work in earnest. This is in case the udder 
has reached normal conditions. Otherwise, the feeding of soft foods, 
such as bran mashes should continue, and, in addition to frequent 
application of heat, the udder should be milked out thoroughly many 
times day and night. This represents much labor, but success in any 
business is attained only by persistent, intelligent effort and close 



Breeding and Feeding Dairy Cattle 17 

attention to details ; and he who is most willing and industrious suc- 
ceeds and leads others to wonder what secrets he practices. 

When the cow's condition warrants that she be placed on solid 
food, haste must be made slowly. Within 30 days she should be on 
full feed and giving her daily maximum milk yield. Furthermore, she 
should not be brought to full feed and milk sooner, for at best she 
is in a weakened condition following parturition. 

It is now that the feeder will begin to appreciate the value of 
the careful and liberal feeding given before freshening, for, in all 
likelihood, he has been rewarded with a strong, vigorous calf not 
predisposed to all the ills that affect calves less fortunately born, and 
he finds the mother strong, fleshy and ready to work. She has much 
extra fat stored up in her body, and this is well, for, unable to utilize 
large amounts of food, she at once begins drawing upon the reserve 
nutrients that are stored, and converts them into^ milk and butterfat. 
The purpose of the feeder has changed, and his aim now is to en- 
courage by feed and care the transferring of the fat from the cow's 
body to the pail. Succulent foods and those rich in protein stimulate 
milk secretion at the expense of body fat. Therefore, it is well to 
continue the use of green foods, roots, silage, beet pulp, leguminous 
hays, and, in addition, a light feed of such protein feeds as bran, oil 
meal, ground oats and gluten feed. 

In the beginning the daily ration should not exceed 4 or 5 
pounds, and this should be increased slowly and on alternating days. 

All concentrated feed given and all milk yielded should be 
weighed. No feeder, no matter how experienced, can get the best out 
of a cow unless by the use of the scales he knows every day the results 
he has attained that he may use the knowledge on the morrow. Real- 
izing this to be a fact, many successful record makers now provide 
for each cow on test a box large enough to hold a day's ration and 
at a convenient time each day her feed for the next 24 hours is 
weighed and placed therein. This requires a little extra work, but 
results will pay well for it. 

Developing cows is a business, and any business that is worth 
while is worth doing in an expert manner. By using boxes in this 
way the 24-hour ration can be divided as best suits the demands of 
the cow. Some cows eat better in the morning, some at noon and 
some at night. Often it is found best to give a cow one-half of her 
entire day's ration at night, leaving the other half to be divided be- 
tween the next two or three feeds. This can easily be done where 
the full ration is available. 

After the first day's ration has been fed results begin. On the 
following day the scales will tell the amount of milk stimulated 



18 Feeding the Dairy Cow 

thereby. On the second day the ration should be increased one-half 
or three-quarters of a pound, and on the following day the scales 
should indicate an increase in milk ^ow, in which case a like increase 
in feed should be made the fourth day. If the scales do not show an 
increase in the milk something is wrong. Perhaps the ration is not 
suited to the particular cow and a change should be made. Thus 
the ration should be increased by small amounts each alternate day, 
the scales showing the way on the intervening day. Invariably dur- 
ing the first 30 days a narrow ration — one composed largely of ground 
oats, oil meal, bran, gluten feed, cottonseed meal, dried distillers' 
grains, with a very small amount of corn meal in addition to the 
roughage — should be used, because these are all rich in protein and 
stimulating to milk secretion. 

Greatest results are attained from the feeding that is practiced 
the four weeks preceding and the four weeks following freshening. 
If all has gone well, the cow has almost reached the limit of her 
feeding capacity and the limit of her milk-producing ability at the end 
of 30 days. A perceptible change has been made in her appearance. 
Much of the beefy conformation has disappeared and she has taken 
on a decided dairy form. The surplus fat has been transferred from 
the body to the pail. 

The problem is now to hold the milk flow and the most ideal 
working form. Recognizing that some foods tend to create energy 
and fatten the animal when fed heavily enough, and others furnish 
milk-making nutrients, and that the cow, whatever else she may be, 
is a machine kept on the farm to convert these foods into milk and 
butterfat, the feeder with the scales and a variety of feeds can com- 
bine and feed them in such amounts as to accomplish any reasonable 
purpose he may choose if the machine is efficient. From day to day, 
and from week to week, the ration should be varied gradually, add- 
ing to or taking from it the foods of one character, then another ; 
catering always not only to the demand but also to the likes and dis- 
likes of the individual in charge. Great records are never secured by 
the dozen but by studying and catering to the individual cow. 

Anxiety for great records should never tempt overfeeding, 
though it often does. Many cows are ruined and scores of records 
made smaller because of too much feed. There is always more dan- 
ger of overfeeding than of underfeeding, but this danger is greatly 
lessened where the scales are employed. Many facts pertaining to 
feeding come from experience, and, though wqW known to the feeder, 
are difficult to express clearly in words ; but, suffice to say, that in ad- 
dition to all knowledge known to the art the herdsman must always, 
with the interest in results, at least keep in mind the condition of the 



Breeding and Feeding Dairy Cattle 19 

animal and be prepared to decrease the ration at the first indication 
of the cow going "oft feed." At best cows working hard for long 
periods tire of their feed and weaken under continued pressure. It 
is well occasionally to substitute for one feed a bran mash to rest 
and cool, so to speak, the digestive tract. Any indication of digestive 
troubles should receive prompt attention and a corrective in the form 
of raw linseed oil, salts or other laxative given. 

The feeder who knows at all times the condition of the animal, 
the real purpose for which he is feeding and the amount and charac- 
ter of food best suited to accomplish the purpose can safely drive the 
machine to the limit of its feeding capacity and milking ability. 

Statistics show there are, in round numbers, 22,000,000 milk cows 
on the 6,500,000 farms of this country. They also show the average 
annual production of butterfat to be less than 150 pounds per cow. 
There are several reasons why the yield is so low. Of these there 
are two reasons principally accountable — inefficient cows and im- 
proper feeding. 

Improving the character of milk cows will increase production 
to a certain degree temporarily, but assurance of large and perma- 
nent betterment necessitates good cows properly fed. Like a great 
wave, education has spread over every dairy section of this country, 
showing by conclusive methods the vast difference in the earning 
power of individual cows. Everywhere the sorting process is in evi- 
dence. Meagerly bred and low productive cows are being replaced 
with superior individuals, and improvement to a large degree is ap- 
parent. This procedure is, indeed, commendable and should be per- 
sistently and intelligently continued, for, surrounded by conditions 
of high-priced land, expensive feed and well paid labor, a herd capa- 
ble of yielding no more than 150 pounds of butterfat per cow annually 
is not a profitable asset. Even though it were, it would not be an 
advisable possession, for farm conditions are such in this country 
that the intelligence of farm operators warrants herds capable of 
averaging yearly 300 pounds or more of butterfat per cow. 

It must be recognized, however, that merely substituting produc- 
tive cows for nondescripts and purebred dairy sires for scrubs will 
not bring forth the desired improvements. The most productive 
herd will revert to the plane of the scrub in production when fed 
scanty rations composed of unsuitable feeds. Improvement in the 
dairy herd must be accompanied by skillful, liberal and intelligent 
feeding if it is to be permanent in character. 

Therefore, wise as it is to build up a herd by rational selection 
and intelligent breeding, the first step should be that of making cer- 
tain that the present herd is being properly cared for. I doubt not 



20 Feeding the Dairy Cow 

that the scales and the Babcock test of today are condemning cows 
when they should be condemning feeders. I doubt not that produc- 
tion in 90 per cent of the herds can be most certainly and rapidly in- 
creased by better feeding than by substitution of cows. 

So closely hand in hand do selection, breeding, care and feeding 
go that any one without the others will not insure success. He who 
is a good feeder and caretaker robs himself if he employs cows lack- 
ing in yielding ability. He who is not a good feeder and caretaker 
robs himself and his cows and has no right to possess animals capa- 
ble of producing largely. 

It has been said that great feeders are born — not made — and 
that the eye of the master fatteneth his cattle. Truly, the phenom- 
enal butter records that are becoming plentiful nowadays evidence 
the fact that science and art are possessed by certain feeders. Where 
ambition exists, any industrious man of intelligence can secure 
reasonable and very profitable results from dairy cows if he puts 
into practice the well-known facts pertaining to the feeds he has 
available and the feeding of them. 

There are certain basic principles which must be firmly fixed in 
the mind of the feeder if he is to stimulate cows to large and eco- 
nomical production. Having determined to manufacture milk and 
calves, he has become a manufacturer. From a business standpoint 
his barn is his factory, his cows are his machines and the feeds he 
chooses are the raw material out of which animal life is to be de- 
veloped and maintained and from which milk is to be manufactured. 
This is the true fundamental starting point from which large re- 
sults, if they are to be secured, must come. It is true that a cow dif- 
fers radically from a mere machine and demands a different kind of 
care; but equally is it true that machines differ radically one from 
another and need radically different kinds of care. 

Knowing this, manufacturers familiarize themselves with their 
machines and give them exactly that sort of care which makes for 
their greater efficiency. 

I know there are eminently successful dairymen and breeders 
who object seriously to comparing the cow with a mere machine — 
an inanimate object that does not respond to regularity of care, 
caresses, comfortable environment and protection from climatic ele- 
ments. That is because, familiar as they are with cows, they have 
never considered the machine in the light of one who is as familiar 
with it as the good breeder is with his cows. He who thus considers 
the comparison odious does not know that the engine which pulls a 
train across the continent talks to the engineer. His sentiment for 
his cows has blinded him to the fact that to accomplish the purpose 



Breeding and Feeding Dairy Cattle 21 

the engine eats with even greater regularity than the cow and that 
the fireman, black and grim with the dust of coal, but with a keen 
knowledge of the engine's requirements, supplies it with a ration 
perfectly balanced and abundant, or otherwise, according to whether 
the iron horse is climbing the mountain side, descending a grade, run- 
ning on the level or standing still. He has never watched the en- 
gineer, as he pulled into a terminal, climb down from his box and 
view his big horse with pride and address him in terms much more 
sentimental than the slinging of a milk stool at a cow as she leaves 
the barn. He does not know how the hostler takes the monster of the 
rails to the roundhouse and stables it against the elements, nor has 
he realized how the helper grooms perfectly this great engine and 
how the machinist doctors its ills that it may be in prime condition to 
do its very best another day. The story of this great victor of the 
hills, valleys and prairies is a true story of every machine in the 
world's great factories ; and, were I compelled to tell in a few words 
how most certainly to double the yield of the American cow, I would 
say: "Know her purposes, learn her needs and supply them; care 
for her intelligently, treat her kindly, even as the engineer does his 
engine and the manufacturer his machine." 

I dare say that the greatest of reasons why cows in general do 
not yield more largely and profitably is because their owners have 
never viewed them in a really business-like manner. It would seem 
that, because of sentiment gone astray, the cow is considered as a 
sort of mysterious being — an animal that has the power to just eat 
feed, make milk and reproduce at regular intervals her like. Nothing 
is further from the truth, and cows kept under conditions of such 
reasoning — or lack of the thoughtful reasoning — produce largely only 
when sentiment becomes great- enough to impel the furnishing of 
food, care and management, regardless of cost. Then cows seldom 
produce profitably. 

Considered as the most highly developed of machines placed in 
the barn, which is the factory, the cow is on a definite business basis. 
It becomes plainly apparent that she is kept for the distinct purpose 
of converting food, or the raw materials of field and pasture, into 
the finished commodities— milk, butterfat, offspring and fertilizing 
material. To do this she must be kept in prime working condition. 
Proper maintenance is the first essential of success in operating any 
machine. Therefore, a certain amount and kind of food is necessary 
for this purpose. To make the commodities desired by her owner 
additional feeds must be given her, for no cow ever made a pound of 
milk or an ounce of any other commodity out of anything except 
food eaten by her at sometime or other. 



22 Feeding the Dairy Cow 

The manufacturer, who considers himself as such, recognizes 
that if he is to compete successfully and profitably with his competi- 
tors he must not only keep his machines busy ; he must provide 
exactly the character and quality of raw material out of 
which the finished commodity he would make can be 
most efficiently and economically made. He, therefore, makes it a 
large part of his business to familiarize himself with the character, 
quality and cost of all raw materials available for his purposes. For- 
tunes have been made through the proper selection of raw materials, 
and fortunes have been lost through imp^roper selection of raw ma- 
terial. Today, in all parts of the country, dairymen are sacrificing a 
large percentage of their possible profits because they have not fa- 
miliarized themselves with the character, quality, composition and 
cost of feeding values of various foodstuffs which they might better 
employ than the feeds they are using. 

All feeds are composed of identically the same constituents. They 
differ only as the percentage of these constituents differ, and in their 
digestibility, palatability, bulk and the physical effect they may have 
on the animal. Not until the feeder possesses definite knowledge 
concerning the factors which determine the usefulness of feeds for 
certain purposes will he be able to determine their relative value or 
to mix them into an efficient, economical ration for the purpose he 
would accomplish in keeping and feeding cows. 



CHAPTER I. 

FIVE THINGS TO CONSIDER ABOUT FEEDS 

There are five essential points to be considered in selecting dairy 
COWS. Likewise, there are five essential points to be observed in 
selecting dairy cow foods. These are palatability, variety, physical 
character, composition and cost. 

Unpalatable rations are wasteful. The cow, non-appreciative of 
them, eats little more than enough to satisfy the demand of her body, 
pushes a portion out on the floor to be wasted and leaves the re- 
mainder in her feed box to be discarded. Very often cows are con- 
sidered poor feeders and low producers when, by changing their ra- 
tion so as to appeal to their appetites, they prove exceptionally pro- 
ductive. 

There are reasons to believe that when a cow is compelled to eat 
food non-palatable to her the secretion of digestive juices is not 
stimulated to its fullest extent. Because of this, although she may 
eat a satisfactory amount' of food, she will not produce proportion- 
ately because a considerable amount of her food passes on undi- 
gested and is w^orse than w'asted, since it taxes the organs of diges- 
tion without accomplishing any desired purpose. 

Cows dififer w^idely — as do all domestic animals, other than the 
hog — with regard to their likes and dislikes of various foods. What 
one cow eats with avidity another refuses entirely or eats sparingly. 
Gluten feed and dried distillers' grain, although recognized as excel- 
lent dairy feeds, are disliked by many cows when they are first added 
to the ration. Most cows acquire a liking for them and soon eat them 
heartily, but in most herds there are individuals that never learn to 
appreciate these and other by-products. To such cows it behooves 
the feeder to give only small portions of these foods with larger por- 
tions of those more readily eaten. 

Likewise, many other foods are objectionable to certain cows. 
In fact, few foods are equally acceptable to all. Ground oats are 
presumably second in palatability only to corn, yet I have in mind 
one great cow that refused absolutely to eat more ground oats than 
1^ pounds daily. In breeding and individuality she gave appearance 
of being able to make a larger butter record. Her feeder had raised 
her from calfhood and declared unqualifiedly that 30 pounds of milk 
daily was the most she would yield. Evidently she was one of those 
deceitful cows that, judging from her breeding and conformation, 
should be a great producer, but when put to test would be found 



24 Feeding the Dairy Cow "^ 

waiting for no apparently good reason. This cow would yield regu- 
larly 30 pounds of milk a day, but no amount of effort, seemingly, 
would induce her to eat food to stimulate a greater flow. After every 
meal food would remain in her feed box. A happy thought appealed 
to her feeder. He would find if there were any foods she would eat 
after satisfying herself with the ration given. Corn meal was offered 
her. She ate it ravenously. Then, in turn, cottonseed meal, gluten 
feed, bran, etc., were offered her separately. Each time she displayed 
her desire to eat. Finally, she was offered ground oats and turned 
her head away in disgust. The problem was solved. Strange as it 
may seem, ground oats — one of the greatest and likewise one of the 
most expensive foods — found little favor with this cow. Oats were 
omitted from her ration. She ate heartily and increased regularly in 
her milk flow. When she had been fresh four months she had a but- 
ter record of 339.75 pounds. 

Her feeder, believing rightfully in the excellence of oats as a food 
for dairy cows, tried returning them gradually to her ration. He 
found she would eat 1^ pounds daily with other foods but additional 
amounts caused her to leave her feed and decline in milk flow. 

This presents the first important reason for providing separate 
and distinct rations for individual cows, and illustrates not only a 
waste of high-priced feeds but also a diminishing of milk production 
where but one ration is provided for the herd as a whole. Not in the 
lifetime of a feeder would he find another cow that would so thor- 
oughly abhor ground oats, but where a large number of foods are 
utilized seldom would he find a cow that liked all of them equally 
well. Therefore, upon his ability to determine the most palatable 
ration for each of his charges depends the greatness of the individual 
work of each cow, and, in consequence, the greatness and economy 
of the herd's total production. 

The dairyman is willing to pay additionally for a cow of large 
capacity. He well knows that the only milk he will get is to be made 
from the food eaten, and, therefore, the more food the cow is capable 
of eating in a given time the more milk he may expect. Regardless, 
to a great extent, of her capacity, a cow eats in accordance with the 
palatability of her ration. It is, therefore, apparent, that, in order to 
utilize to the fullest degree the inherent digestive capacity possessed 
by the cow, her ration must be pleasing to her palate. 

A most common mistake made by feeders is the utilization of too 
small a number of foods in compounding rations. A large variety of 
foods wisely selected insures palatability, economy, efficiency and a 
balanced ration. 

It is absolutely impossible to provide a ration from corn silage, 



Five Things to Consider about Feeds 25 

corn stover, corn meal and timothy hay without the use of other 
foods. Such a ration is not alone unbalanced, but even though it 
may be palatable, it lacks in efficiency and is not economical, for it 
does not provide all nutrients necessary for the manufacture of milk. 
Even though these feeds are raised on the farm and are cheap in 
price per ton, he is a most extravagant feeder who depends upon them 
alone to stimulate large milk production. Indisputable as is this 
fact, hundreds of thousands of cows in the corn belt are compelled 
to live and yield as best they can throughout a long winter on such 
a ration and, working under this as one of their handicaps, thousands 
of them are being condemned as unprofitable. 

In other sections, where corn is not so plentiful, rations consist- 
ing of cottonseed meal, bran and leguminous hays are used alone 
because they are cheaper per ton. A better ration this, but extrava- 
gant also because so small a number of foods are used that one 
does not balance the other. But the feeder who will avail himself 
of all of these foods and feed them in right proportions will insure 
such variety for his cows that they -will thrive well, keep in good con- 
dition, produce to the greatness of their ability and reduce the cost 
of milk production. 

Very often it is possible to purchase efficient foodstuffs cheaply 
— foodstuffs not palatable in themselves, but that if fed with a large 
variety of other and more palatable foods can be used to greatly re- 
duce the cost. At the same time, the appetite of the cow will be 
satisfied and her milk yield increased. 

Cows, like people, tire of eating the same ration regularly for a 
long period of time. A large variety of food makes it possible for the 
feeder to change the ration often without changing its composition 
and thereby keeping the cow's appetite keen and her production reg- 
ular. This suggestion is of especial importance where cows are fed 
with the desire of giving them large yearly records and when it be- 
comes necessary to encourage them to eat largely and with regularity 
over a long period. 

Master feeders of beef cattle have so recognized the value of 
variety in their feeding operations that occasionally a radical change 
is made in their feeding operations. In ripening cattle for the show 
yard, the beef cattle feeder resorts to feeding his charges four times 
daily. 

For several years it was my good fortune to be associated with 
Sam Johnson, than whom no man ever more successfully fitted show 
steers for the International Fat Stock Show. He unconsciously di- 
vulged to me a secret. Nearly every Sunday evening, Sam, with 
the excuse that he should rest a bit on Sunday, would substitute for 



26 Feeding the Dairy Cow 

the latest evening feed a sloppy bran mash containing a little lin- 
seed meal and a liberal supply of salt. This was real variety, and 
rested the strenuously worked digestive apparatus of each animal. 
Next morning every steer was waiting at his feed box ready to start 
•anew, and as the week advanced, those great steers, wealthy with 
flesh and fat, ate well and continued to fatten satisfactorily, looking 
forward to the coming of Sunday evening, when they would again 
receive their choice, palatable change of diet. 

At first I feared this would not work so well with dairy cows at 
hard work, but during the St. Louis Cow Demonstration, when much 
was expected of every cow and when they were being fed heavily, 
there came a time when they seemed to care little for their feed. 
When cows on test reach that point it is evident that some change 
is necessary. I decided Sam had some reason for giving bran mashes 
other than that he wished a bit of rest on Sunday. Every cow in the 
herd received an appetizing bran mash the following Sunday evening. 
A rash experiment, perhaps, but an increased milk flow resulted next 
morning, and every cow was ravenous for her regular feed. From 
^that time to the end of the test, every cow in the herd received a 
bran mash in substitution for one regular feed when she evidenced 
a sluggish appetite. The result was that those cows broke records, 
and every one left her stall when the test ended in quite as good 
health and condition as she had ever experienced. 

Variety is the spice of the cow's life quite as much as it is of the 
life of man. He who furnishes his cows an abundance of intelligently 
selected foods, of a palatable sort, need v/orry little about balanced 
rations, for in 99 cases out of 100 the building of a ration from a 
large number of feeds insures the required nutrients in acceptable 
proportion. Great as is the assistance realized by a knowledge of 
food composition, the encouraging of successful production may bet- 
ter be trusted to a man of judgment, balancing rations unconsciously 
by the use of a large number of foods rather than to a man lacking in 
judgment balancing a ration with a few foods and many rules. 

To work profitably every cow must at all times be in perfect 
health. Therefore, in selecting foods it is essential that no little 
consideration be given the physical effect each may have upon the 
cow. 

It is needless to discuss in detail the folly of permitting deteri- 
orated or moldy feed to find a place in the cow's ration. Yet, be- 
cause moldy silage, heated corn meal and other such inferior feeds 
do not, as a rule, kill cows, they are often fed when they should be 
given to the hogs or returned to the land as fertilizer. Very often 
the digestion of a cow is so interfered with by one feed of spoiled 



Five Things to Consider about Feeds 27 

food that she declines in her milk yield never to return until another 
freshening period. The profit she would have made is sacrificed in 
order to save a bit of worthless food. The thoughtful feeder will al- 
ways discriminate against such food and also against feeding heavily 
of those which are recognized as harmful to the health of his animals. 

All feeds, other than roughages, should be fin-ely ground. There 
is no reasonable excuse for feeding whole oats, corn or other grains 
to cattle that are over one year of age. Calves seemingly thrive well 
on and digest fully whole oats and shelled corn, and there is little 
doubt that it is more advisable to feed whole grain to them, but when 
past yearlings the feeding of grain unground is a wasteful process. 

Experiments in great numbers prove conclusively that much 
profit may be secured by grinding grain for cows, and any expe- 
rienced practical feeder recognizes when he sees whole grains of 
corn, oats or barley in the excrement that little has been the nour- 
ishment extracted from them. The beef feeder may justify the waste 
by permitting hogs to follow his steers, but even this plan will not 
excuse the dairyman, because, in addition to the waste occasioned 
the digestive apparatus — the hardest worked organism of the cow's 
anatomy — is needlessly taxed. Less regard need be given the di- 
gestive apparatus of the steer, for, when he enters the feed lot, he 
needs digestive organs only for from six months to a year. At the 
end of that time he goes to the shambles. Let him soak and pre-di- 
gest corn for hogs if you wish, but the dairy cow, coming into use- 
fulness as a two-year-old, if she be worthy, has a period of from 10 to 
15 years to work in the dairy, and her longevity depends much upon 
the protection her digestive system receives. Do not demand that 
she prepare food for hogs in addition to converting tons of food into 
milk and butterfat, which she does during her lifetime. By grinding 
her food, great assistance is rendered her and much is saved in the 
cost of her performance. 

A bulky ration is more efficient than a compact one. The cow, 
having four stomachs, does not digest her food in the same manner 
as a non-ruminating animal. When she eats she masticates her food 
very little, swallowing most of it Avhole. When she finds time she 
regurgitates and masticates it. This is called chewing the cud. The 
cow does not, as is sometimes believed, have a regular cud which 
she chews whenever she so desires, but each of the many cuds she 
chews consists of food she has eaten at times when she did not feel 
that she had time to masticate it. During the process of mastication 
the food is not only reduced to a finer degree, but, even of more im- 
portance, saliva is mixed with it. The ptyalin contained in the saliva 
starts the first process of digestion, that of converting the starches of 



28 Feeding the Dairy Cow 

the food into sugar. The importance of all particles of food being mas- 
ticated is apparent, for, unless the starches of the food come in con- 
tact with saliva, digestion is incomplete and much of the food is 
wasted. 

A bulky ration is light and easily regurgitated. All portions of 
it returned to the mouth are masticated, mixed with saliva in abun- 
dance and passed on through the regular channels of digestion, where 
they come in contact with other digestive juices. Compact, heavy 
rations, when they enter the stomach, are difficult to return to the 
mouth, and portions of them pass on to the other stomachs without 
mastication or insalivation. They are, therefore, largely wasted. It 
is also believed that feed fed in compact form gathers in masses in 
the stomach so that digestive juices do not percolate thoroughly and 
quickly among the particles, with a result that none of the nutrients 
become fully digested. This has been aptly illustrated by placing 
in one glass jar a quantity of corn meal, in another an equal amount 
of corn and cob meal and pouring a like amount of water into each 
jar. After letting both jars stand a few moments and then removing 
their contents it will be found that the water has fully percolated 
among the particles of the corn and cob meal, but that only the outer 
edges of the corn meal are moistened while the inside of the mass 
is dry. It is for this reason that a pound of corn and cob meal has 
been found equally as valuable for feeding cattle as a pound of corn 
meal, and not because the ground corn cob is as valuable pound for 
pound as ground corn. The value of the cob is almost wholly me- 
chanical. It does not contain any great amount of nutriment. 

Because of this knowledge, however, much corn and cob meal is 
fed in the north and cottonseed hulls in the south, but the advisa- 
bility of the practice is questionable, except where the ingenuity of 
the feeder is not such that he can supply bulk in a more valuable 
form. 

The general use of silage is largely solving the problem of sup- 
plying bulk to dairy cow rations. Almost everywhere the plan now- 
adays is to feed the concentrated ration mixed with the silage. This 
is well, for the particles of grain, adhering to the more bulky and 
lighter particles of silage, are easily returned to the mouth for mas- 
tication and to be mixed with the saliva, thus insuring complete di- 
gestion and eliminating waste of food. 

A very excellent plan — especially in this day of high-priced bran 
and oats, one merit of which is the lightness and the bulk they im- 
part to a ration — is to reduce alfalfa hay to quarter-inch lengths and 
feed in substitution for these more expensive foods. As is well 
known by dairymen, the dairy cow contest at the St. Louis World's 



Five Things to Consider about Feeds 29 

Fair was conducted on a basis of economy as well as greatness of 
yield. In the barn over which the writer had supervision of the 
feeding, it was recognized that alfalfa hay was practically as valuable 
as bran, which was more expensive. The only problem was how best 
to reduce it to a form in which it could be fed with the grain ration 
as bran could be. This was finally done by cutting the alfalfa into 
quarter-inch~ lengths each day so it would be fresh, and moistening it 
with steam or warm water just sufficiently to soften the stems and 
cause the particles of grain to adhere to the particles of alfalfa. That 
the plan proved successful is vouched for by the fact that throughout 
the test every cow received 6 pounds of alfalfa hay mixed with her 
grain, and very little bran was fed. 

The herd in question won both in greatness and economy of 
production. The cows produced largely because they not only re- 
ceived an abundance of food nutrients, but because the feed was 
given them in a form easily and readily digested, and the largest 
possible amount of food nutrients was utilized. They won in econ- 
omy because the physical and mechanical character of the ration was 
such that the smallest possible amount of food nutrients was wasted. 

Another great advantage of this system will appeal to the feeder 
striving for much roughage. It will appeal to him that cows will not 
require such heavy grain feeding to stimulate their largest possible 
production and that where so much bulk is present it is nearly im- 
possible to overfeed, as is so often the case where concentrates are 
fed alone. 

Where cows become accustomed to rations of this character— 
and they eat them readily from the beginning — they no longer like, 
to eat dry ground feeds without the cut hay mixed with them. In 
sections where molasses is a cheap source of nutriment, the efficiency 
and palatability of such a ration is greatly enhanced including one 
quart of molasses with each three gallons of water with which the 
ration is moistened. 



CHAPTER II. 

COMPOSITION AND COST OF FEEDS 

The animal body and all foodstuffs are made of identically the 
same things. In a broad sense, they are all one and the same thing — 
food for man or beast. Milk and other familiar foods are fed to 
calves to grow and develop them to a point where they are slaugh- 
tered, retained to reproduce likenesses of themselves or to yield 
milk — all for the purpose of furnishing food for mankind. We 
could eliminate the cow entirely, eat the food we give her and re- 
ceive identically the same food nutrients if cattle foods were equally 
as palatable, digestible and concentrated in form as are meats and 
dairy products. Vegetarians do this very largely now, but, even 
with the growing popularity of cereal breakfast foods, there is no 
likelihood that the cow will ever be less in evidence than she is today 
so long as human nature remains as it is. 

The great purpose of the cow is not to originate food nutrients. 
And this she does not do. Her plan is merely to rearrange, accord- 
ing to her own secret formula, the nutrients she finds in coarse, bulky 
grains and roughages — unpalatable to mankind — and return them in 
products that are palatable, concentrated and easily digested. The 
cow is the great transformer that intercedes between nature and man. 
In return for this, she exacts toll sufficiently large to maintain her 
life, health and comfort, keep her body in repair and nourish her 
offspring during the embryonic period. And again, identically the 
same compounds are required for such maintenance as are found in 
the composition of food, the animal body, and milk. This fact and 
the identity of these compounds are illustrated in the following out- 
line : 

Food J ( Protein 

Animal Body ( ) Carbohydrates 

\ V Fat 

^^^^ I I Mineral Matter 

Maintenance ) [ Water 

Expressed in this manner, scientific knowledge is not required 
to secure a complete, practical, working understanding of food nutri- 
ent requirements. It becomes apparent that the animal body, milk 
and maintenance are not derived from food as such but from the ele- 
ments of food. Furthermore, the protein, water and mineral matter — 
found in the animal body, in milk or required for maintenance — are 



Composition and Cost of Feeds 31 

not and can not be made from carbohydrates or fat, and neither can 
one be made from the other. Now, reducing- the whole problem to a 
common-sense, practical basis, and stripping it of all fancy, theory 
and mystery, it ceases to be a bug-bear. Water can be made by the 
animal out of nothing except water. Protein can be made by the ani- 
mal out of nothing except protein. Mineral matter can be made by 
the animal out of nothing except mineral matter. 

Water is present in the animal body to the extent of more than 
50 per cent, milk contains over 80 per cent and much water is regu- 
larly excreted with waste materials. That is why water supplied 
irregularly or in limited amounts occasions a decrease in milk flow. 

In the body of a 1,000-pound cow there are nearly 200 pounds 
of protein; in 100 pounds of milk there are more than three pounds 
of protein, and it is a fact that admits of no argument that a cow 
of the size above mentioned requires .7 of a pound of digestible pro- 
tein in her food daily to maintain her body. That is why calves fed 
rations deficient in protein do not thrive; that is why cows fed on 
such rations,, even though fed abundantly, do not produce satisfac- 
tory amounts of milk. 

Over 5 per cent of the animal body and .7 of 1 per cent of milk 
are composed of mineral matter. That is why it is especially im- 
portant that immature animals and cows yielding heavily of milk 
should be salted regularly and given foods containing a liberal supply 
of ash or mineral ingredients. 

Carbohydrates and fat co-operate with each other. Both are used 
for the same purpose, 1 pound of fat being equivalent in efficiency to 
2y^ pounds of carbohydrates. In fact, the fat contained in a foodstuff 
is multiplied by two and one-fourth, added to the carbohydrates and 
considered as a carbohydrate-equivalent in balancing rations. These 
two nutrients are burned up, or oxidized, by the animal to make heat 
and energy. A 1,000-pound cow uses 7 pounds of digestible carbohy- 
drates and carbohydrate-equivalents daily just to keep herself in 
health, comfort and working order. The rest she makes into animal 
fats, which she places in the milk pail, or, if she is overfed or not 
given enough protein to balance her ration, she distributes that which 
she cannot use otherwise through her body, storing it up to be used 
later. In addition to using 7 pounds of carbohydrates daily for main- 
tenance, the 1,000-pound cow carries an amount of fat in her body 
varying, according to her condition, from 80 to 300 pounds, and her 
milk varies in fat content from 2 to 10 pounds per hundredweight, 
the normal variation being more nearly from 3 to 6 pounds, accord- 
ing, largely, to the breed she represents. Also there is found a very 
small amount of carbohydrates in the body, and in the form of milk 



32 Feeding the Dairy Cow 

sugar there are about 5 pounds of carbohydrates in 100 pounds of 
milk. 

From these facts it will be rightfully deducted that of all nutri- 
ents this heat energy and fat producer is most largely used. This — 
and because as a rule in most sections carbohydrates are cheap and 
most largely found in home grown feeds — no doubt, accounts for the 
fact that they are very often overfed and wasted. The feeder over- 
looks the fact that in milk production only that amount which is 
properly balanced with protein is really serviceable and economical 
to feed. In fact, although protein is often more expensive than car- 
bohydrates, the dairyman commits a greater extravagance by over- 
feeding the latter than though he feeds too heavily of the former, 
because protein that is not used for its. own purpose v/ill act in the 
capacity of carbohydrates, but the opposite is not true. 

I am aware that formerly — and to a lesser degree nowadays — 
practical dairymen and feeders were more or less adverse to sugges- 
tions bordering on the theoretical and scientific, and I have treated 
this subject of composition of foodstuffs in the most practical and 
briefest manner within my power. I have combined in a few para- 
graphs what I have learned — from volumes of reading, results of 
hundreds of experiments and many years of practical experience — 
to be knowledge absolutely essential for the successful feeder to 
possess. It must not be treated scornfully by the reader who would 
profit from the chapters which will follow, for in this age of ex- 
pensive foodstuffs, with prices fluctuating as they are, no man can 
secure at once large and profitable production from his cows, quick 
and cheap growth in his young stock or maintain his breeding herd 
in healthful and thrifty condition unless he possesses a clear under- 
standing of these facts. The time was when the feeder could scofif 
at science, refuse absolutely to mix it with practice and succeed fairly 
well. That was when lands, in virgin fertility, were cheap, stock 
feed inexpensive, help plentiful and wages low — conditions which do 
not exist today. Science with practice, and vice versa, is the only 
rule that leads to successful occupation and away from poverty and 
drudgery under conditions as they now are and as they will more 
intensely be ere the youth of today reaches the age of gray hairs. 

It is quite as essential that the feeder know the uses of water, 
protein, carbohydrates, fat and mineral matter in feeding his ma- 
chines and manufacturing milk, calves and fertilizing ingredients, as 
for the manufacturer to know the use of iron, steel, copper, brass, 
tin and wood in feeding his machines and manufacturing gasoline 
engines, cream separators and manure spreaders. Take me to the fac- 
tory where the owner scoffs at knowledge, discoveries by honest, 



Composition and Cost of Feeds 33 

intelligent experimenters and scientists, and we will find the doors 
closed and locked with no signs other than those of failure in evidence. 

Composition of foods as determined by chemical analysis is not 
the sole factor for consideration. It is not alone important that a 
food should possess a large content of any desirable nutrient. Only 
that portion of a food which is digestible is valuable except for giving 
bulk to the ration. Indigestible materials, after performing the me- 
chanical duty of aiding in the digestion of other portions of the food, 
are expelled from the digestive tract as waste. It is because of this 
that young, growing animals and high-producing cows demand con- 
centrated foods in addition to roughages. Rations consisting of an 
over-abundance of indigestible material satisfy the hunger of the 
cow and usually furnish her with nutriment sufficient to maintain 
her body in good form, but, though the cow may be capacious, she is 
unable to eat an amount of food great enough to secure the additional 
nutrients necessary to manufacture milk in large quantities. This 
will be more fully and plainly illustrated in a later chapter. 

Cost of milk production depends largely upon the cost of food 
nutrients. One of the greatest and most prevalent mistakes made 
by dairymen is that of purchasing foods instead of purchasing 
digestible nutrients. It is this practice which leads to the continued 
use of bran in sections where the price has reached $30 per ton, oats 
that sell for 60c a bushel and timothy hay which for many 
years has possessed a selling value far in excess of its 
feeding value for dairy stock. When bran sold for $10 per 
ton and oats for 10c a bushel, practical experience taught 
that to mix them liberally with rations increased milk produc- 
tion and that it paid well to feed them. There is no disputing the 
fact that they are among the most excellent dairy feeds. But, when 
one familiarizes himself with the fact that a ton of bran contains only 
244 pounds of digestible protein, 784 pounds of digestible carbo- 
hydrates, 54 pounds of digestible fat, or a total of only 1,082 pounds 
of digestible material and 72 pounds of fertilizing constituents, it be- 
comes apparent that bran costs too much. Especially is this true if 
fed with corn and corn silage, when cottonseed meal, a ton of which 
can be purchased at nearly the same price and contains 744 pounds, 
338 pounds and 244 pounds of digestible protein, carbohydrates and 
fat, respectively, or a total of 1,326 pounds of digestible nutrients and 
105 pounds of fertilizing constituents. It is not a difficult matter 
to make like comparisons of many other foods in demonstration of 
the fact that the prevailing methods of selecting foods where their 
digestible composition is not considered is an expensive and extrava- 
gant practice. The same reasoning shows it to be advisable to sell 



34 Feeding the Dairy Cow 

oats and timothy hay at present prices and buy distillers' grains, 
gluten feed, clover hay and alfalfa to take their places, even disre- 
garding the fact that a more efficient ration is also formulated by 
doing so. 

To provide productive, economical rations for the dairy herd, the 
feeder must secure the necessary digestible nutrients in a variety of 
foods that are at once palatable, healthful and comparatively low in 
price. In determining the composition cost he must base his decision 
not on the cost per ton of palatable, healthful food alone, but also 
upon the cost per pound of digestible protein, carbohydrates, fat and 
mineral matter. No feed is so important that another can not be 
found that will satisfactorily replace it. Each of these nutrients are 
so necessary that nothing else can be substituted for any of them 
without interfering with the condition, health or production of the 
animal. Therefore, the thoughtful feeder will welcome a discussion 
of the more common, available foodstuffs, that from among them he 
may select the most efficient and economical ration possible. 



CHAPTKK 111. 

CORN AND lis HY-PRODUCTS 

Corn is the j^tcnU Anu'ricm ( roj). I'^roin coast to coast and from 
Canada to Mexico and beyond it is grown with varying degrees of 
success. Througliont the entire eoiuitry it can be grown advisedly 
for feeding purposes. In localities where corn matures with cer- 
tainty it provides the most economical basis for concentrated rations. 
Where seasons are too sliort for maturity to be reached, the entire 
plant made into silage provides the greatest and most economical 
source of succulent food nnlrien(s. 

Corn, in its various forms, is palatable to all classes of livestock, 
convenient to feed and usually a Inmie grown product. Therefore, it 
is the most extensively used foods! nil on the American farm, h^or 
the same reason it is the most abused of all f(jo(lstu(Ts. Vva\ for a dis- 
tinct purpose, with a knowledge of its limitations as well as of its 
true value, corn is the greatest and most economical of all foodstuffs. 
Fed carelessly, without judgment, because it is a home grown, pal- 
atable food, corn proves to be the factor that limits production and 
curtails profits. 

Not alone on boards of trade has (oni made men rich because 
they possessed judgment and intelligence, and others poor because 
they dealt in corn and corn only with recklessness not substantiated 
with knowledge and judgment. On thousands of farms men have 
become wealthy by the j)roper and judicious use of corn in their feed- 
ing operations, while others have robbed their lands of fertility and 
themselves of the profits they should have secured by using u[) their 
bountiful crops of corn by reckless, extravagant, thoughtless feeding 
methods. Not alone is an over-abundanee of alcohol distilled from 
corn harmful to the man who drinks it, but an overabundance of 
corn is also harmful to the animal that eats it. 

There is no other foodstufT about which the dairyman should 
know so much as about corn, because it can be grown on nearly 
every farm ; because it is so palatable in its various forms and stages 
of growth to all farm animals; because it is so largely digestible; be- 
cause it is such a cheap source of nutriment ; because when made 
into silage it provides the best and cheapest source of succulence, 
every dairyman should possess the knowledge which will permit 
him to make corn the basis of his rations and use it as largely as pos- 
sible. But because corn does not contain a suflTiciency of all nutrients 
required by the animal ; because feeding wholly, or even too largely. 



36 



Feeding the Dairy Cow 




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Corn and Its By-Products 37 

of corn limits milk production of cows and growth of young animals ; 
because over-feeding of corn is harmful to the health and breeding 
powers of animals ; because every kernel of corn or pound of silage 
eaten — after all demands that corn can fulfill have been met — is a 
sinful extravagance and waste of property, every dairyman should 
possess the knowledge which will enable him to use corn, not only 
as largely as possible but in the most economical and profitable man- 
ner. 

In order to study corn we will take 100 pounds of corn meal and 
determine its various characteristics. The illustration represents a 
column of corn meal 27.3 inches high and 12 inches square and is an 
exact reproduction of just 100 pounds of corn meal. 

Our first impression is that 100 pounds of corn meal occupies a 
comparatively small space. It is not a bulky food. The proportion 
of water and d-ry matter is variable according to the sample of feed, 
but 100 pounds of average corn meal contains 10.5 pounds of water, 
which merely adds to the bulk, digestibility and palatability of the 
food. It represents no feeding value. There are 89.5 pounds of dry 
matter in 100 pounds of corn, and only this needs further considera- 
tion. 

Of the dry matter 8.1 pounds are indigestible material, in which 
there is no value other than that of furnishing bulk and adding to 
the digestibility. This portion may also be eliminated from further 
consideration. The ash or mineral matter does not undergo the reg- 
ular process of digestion but passes into solution with the liquids 
with which it comes in contact in the digestive apparatus. The only 
consideration needful of mineral matter is, therefore, merely to be 
assured of its presence in fairly liberal amounts in the final ration. 
In 100 pounds of corn meal there are 1.5 pounds of ash — not a large 
amount compared with some foods. 

With this elimination of water, ash and indigestible material 
only 79.9 pounds of nutrients remain for vital consideration. This 
is divided into three nutrients as shown in Plate 3. 

It is very apparent that corn meal is a food especially adapted 
to furnishing the animal with the material for producing heat, 
energy and making fat. Calling to mind the fact that 1 pound of 
fat is equal to and accomplishes the same purposes as 2.25 pounds 
of carbohydrates, and, compiling the figures, we find present in 
100 pounds of corn meal 78.1 pounds of this heat, energy and fat 
producer. There are only 7.5 pounds of digestible protein present. 
This is the weakness of corn. It does not supply largely that great 
nutrient that makes blood, bone, muscle, hair and the casein in milk. 
By dividing the total of carbohydrates and equivalents by the 7.5 



3S 



Feeding the Dairy Cow 







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Corn and Its By-Products 39 

pounds of protein in 100 pounds of corn meal, we find 10.4 pounds 
of the former to 1 pound of tlie latter. Average milk contains 1 
pound of protein to each 3.6 pounds of carbohydrates, so if we were 
to attempt to make milk with some mechanical machine instead of 
with the cow, we would look further for material out of which to 
make it. We could see very plainly that the protein would all be 
used up long before the carbohydrates, occasioning a big waste of 
material. Although not to so large a degree, the same reasoning 
applies to feeding cows for milk production. 

Corn and cob meal is more largely used in feeding dairy cows 
than is corn meal. It has one advantage over corn meal — it is more 
bulky. Experiments have shown a pound of corn and cob meal 
equal in feeding value to a pound of corn meal. It is not probable 
that this would be true if both were mixed with bulky material such 
as corn silage or chaffed hay, for there is little food value in ground 
corn cobs — their value is almost entirely mechanical. Realizing 
this, the thoughtful feeder will eliminate corn cobs from his rations, 
supplanting them with materials possessing equally great mechan- 
ical value and more nutriment, so the cow's digestive apparatus will 
not be needlessly taxed. In case corn and cob meal is fed it should 
be very finely ground. This is true of all grains. Feeding whole 
grains or those coarsely ground is wasteful because a large portion 
leaves the -system undigested. 

A comparison of 100 pounds of corn and cob meal with a like 
amount of corn meal shows the amounts of dry matter and moisture 
to be practically the same as found in corn meal. The great differ- 
ence is in the digestibility of the two feeds. 

With only 73.5 pounds of digestible dry matter in 100 pounds 
of corn and cob meal as compared with 79.9 pounds in a like amount 
of corn meal, it becomes apparent that from every 100 pounds of 
corn and cob meal the animal must sort out and eliminate from the 
body 6.4 pounds more indigestible material than though a like 
amount of corn meal had been fed. 

Likewise there is a less amount of each of the essential nutrients 
present in digestible form. Of these there are 12 pounds of digesti- 
ble carbohydrate material in proportion to 1 pound of protein — a 
larger difference even than there is in corn meal. 

With a knowledge of the true feeding value of corn and cob 
meal, and knowing how difficult and expensive it is to reduce cobs 
to such fineness that they will be readily consumed by the animal, 
the use of them is to be advised only when other bulky foods cannot 
be economically provided. This is especially true where cows are 
expected to yield largely, as when making records. 



40 Feeding the Dairy Cow 

Feeders in large numbers, having a general id<6a that corn is 
the excellent foodstuff that it is, seek no further for knowledge- 
Some fed whole ear corn, others corn and cob meal and others corn 
meal. Apparently, good results are obtained. If corn is abundantly 
fed, calves grow fairly well, cows keep in good condition and pro- 
duce some milk. The corn is raised on the farm. Its possession 
represents no direct outlay of money to secure it at the time feed 
is needed. The process is simple. Following the line of least re- 
sistance (and all human nature is prone to do that) we feed corn. 
Especially is this true where corn is the most plentiful crop grown. 
Custom, at least, warrants the method. Our fathers and grand- 
fathers, successful farmers in their day, fed that way. Therefore, 
we are inclined to let well enough alone even though all around us 
are marked evidences that conditions are radically different than 
they were even a decade ago. 

When corn was cheap, and low prices were secured for cows 
and their products, a little corn wasted mattered little. There were 
no great incentives for stimulating large milk production. To make 
a living on the farm in those days was well, for wealth accrued with 
the regular and continuous increase in the value of land. Little was 
the need of considering how large a portion of the corn eaten was 
wasted by the animal, for it was returned to the fields to make the 
land richer, anyway. 

For some reason or other, men of other lines of business have 
not been content with this kind of logic. Keen ambition to succeed 
in a large way, even where close competition does not exist, has im- 
pelled them to conserve even the most minute opportunity to add to 
their profits. 

The feeder is not the only manufacturer whose raw material 
consists of corn. The manufacturers of hominy, brewers' grits, 
glucose, starch, oil and breakfast foods feed millions upon millions 
of bushels of corn to their machines. They have studied the kernel 
of corn more in detail than has the feeder. Their profits are derived 
from just a portion of that which would be waste were they not 
closely familiar with composition and nature uf the raw material 
which satisfies the hunger of their machines. They have mechani- 
cally divided the kernel of corn and chemically analyzed each part, 
that they may know which portion is best suited to manufacture the 
product they desire, and how best and most profitably to dispose of 
those portions not adapted to their purposes. These studies reveal 
the picture No. 7. 

The outer covering of the kernel, known as the skin, "a," con- 
sists of two layers of tough, fibrous material which is not highly 



Corn and Its By-Products 41 

digestible. This is known — and was formerly sold — as corn bran. 
Like other foods with a large content of crude fiber, one of its chief 
values is that of imparting bulk to the ration. In furnishing di- 
gestible food nutriment, analysis shows there are in 100 pounds of 
corn bran, 7.4 pounds of protein, 59.8 pounds of carbohydrates, 4.6 
pounds of fat and 1.3 pounds of ash. Corn bran is seldom sold as such 
nowadays, being used to add bulk to other commercial feeds and de- 
crease their cost per ton. It thus serves as a useful filler. 

Immediately under the bran of the kernel is located the gluten, 
**d." As the bran is rich in crude fiber, so is the gluten rich in pro- 
tein, for which reason it recommends itself highly as an animal 
food. The lower end of the kernel, *'b," is largely occupied by the 
germ which contains some gluten but is more largely oil. The re- 
mainder of the kernel, "c," or about 84 per cent of it, is starchy ma- 
terial. Primarily, this is the part the manufacturers of brewers' 
grits, hominy, glucose and starch are desirous of securing. To them 
the remainder of the kernel is waste except as they utilize it for 
other products and for by-products. 

The process of separating the various parts of the corn is sim- 
ple and mechanical. Briefly, the kernels are ground, either before 
or after soaking in water, and then passed through a series of 
troughs filled with water. The bran, which is the lightest, immedi- 
ately rises to the top, and the germs which are heaviest, settle to the 
bottom. Starch and gluten remain suspended in the water, their 
separation being more retarded. In time the starch settles and the 
■gluten floating on with the water is finally recovered to be made into 
.gluten meal. 

Although not entirely accurate, the process illustrates the man- 
ner in which the animal divides the kernel during the process of di- 
gestion and assimilation. Also in this division the feeder has an ex- 
cellent example of the proportionate amounts of bulky material, 
ash, protein, carbohydrates and fat as they exist in the kernel of corn. 

Like the mechanical machine, the cow when fed whole kernels 
of corn subjects them to a soaking process in her first stomach, 
which is termed her paunch or rumen. When thoroughly soaked, 
she regurgitates and grinds them, but not as thoroughly as does the 
mechanical machine, as is evidenced by the large number of whole 
kernels excreted in the manure. When ground, the corn is again 
swallowed and starts on its trip through the stomach and the intes- 
tines. Digestion and assimilation begin at once. From the bran is 
taken the soluble ash, or mineral matter, to build up the mineral con- 
tent of the blood, to make bone and to furnish the required amount 
of ash in the milk. From the gluten the protein is taken and distrib-" 



42 



Feeding the Dairy Cow 




PLATE 7. 
-covering, b — germ, c — starch, d — gluten. 



Water, 
9.1 pounds. 



Dry matter, 
90.9 pounds. 




PLATE 8. 

100 pounds gluten meal — exact 
volume. 12xl2x20j^ inches. 




Water, 
9.1 pounds. 

Indigestible 

material, 

10.3 pounds. 



\sli, 2.1 pounds. Ash, 2.1 pounds. 



Protein, 
30.2 pounds. 



Carbohydrates, 
43.9 pounds. 



Fat, 4.4 pounds. 




PLATE 9. 

100 pounds gluten meal — exact 

volume, 12xl2x20]k2 inches. 



PLATE 10. 

100 pounds gluten meal — exact 

volume, 12xl2x20J^ inches. 



Corn and Its By-Products 43 

uted to the parts of the body where it is needed. From the germ fat is 
extracted and from the starchy part carbohydrates are secured to be 
absorbed by the blood and carried to all parts of the body. The in- 
digestible materials of each of these component parts of the kernel 
pass from the digestive apparatus and are expelled from the body as 
waste. Thus it is seen that the kernel of corn contains all nutrients 
demanded by the animal, and, were it strictly, instead of illustra- 
tively, true that bran is mineral matter, gluten is protein, the germ is 
fat and the starch is carbohydrates, and could each readily be separ- 
ated from the other, it would be easy to balance the concentrated ra- 
tion by merely eliminating from corn an amount of the starch sufft- 
cient to secure the most desirable proportion of protein to carbona- 
ceous material. As this is impossible, or at least impractical, the 
thoughtful breeder increases the protein content of his rations by rais- 
ing and buying foods rich in protein instead of decreasing the car- 
bohydrate content of corn and selling starch. Even were the former 
plan possible, the latter plan would be the more advisable, for variety 
— an essential factor in formulating rations — is assured by its use. 

Because of this and because the by-products of corn are among 
the most useful protein carriers, a study of them is interesting and 
necessary to the dairyman who would secure large and economical 
results. Especially should the feeder of the corn belt consider 
seriously the use of corn by-products, for in accordance with the de- 
mand for and the price of these by-products, the price of the corn 
he raises and has for sale varies. 

Gluten meal is a concentrated feed. Being kiln dried, it con- 
tains less moisture in proportion to the dry matter than does corn 
meal, and, as the accompanying cut illustrates, it is one of the least 
bulky of feeds. 

Because gluten meal is so concentrated, it naturally follows that 
it is rich in the various feeding nutrients ; and, furthermore, because 
it lacks bulk and, to a degree, palatability, it should not be fed alone 
but with other foods of a more bulky nature. 

It has been shown how the crude fibre, and, therefore, the larger 
part of the indigestible materials, were eliminated from the corn 
kernel with the bran. Therefore, gluten meal contains a large per- 
centage of digestible material as plate No. 9 shows. 

Regardless of what nutrients gluten meal contains, the mere 
fact that in 100 pounds there are 78.5 pounds of digestible material 
shows it to be worth more per ton than corn meal — 100 pounds of 
which contains only 79.9 pounds of material that is digestible and of 
which the animal can make use. 



44 . Feeding the Dairy Cow 

But it has been seen that the gluten meal is the protein part of 
the corn grain, and Plate 10 s'hows it to be rich in this essential 
nutrient. 

Not alone is gluten meal rich in protein. It contains 4.4 pounds 
of fat in each 100 pounds. Each pound of fat being 2>^ times as 
useful as carbohydrates, and there being 43.9 pounds of this latter 
nutrient present, multiplication and addition reveal the fact that 
gluten meal contains a total of 53.8 pounds of energy-producing 
value as compared with 79.05 pounds contained in corn meal. Gluten 
meal contains 2.1 pounds of ash per hundredweight, practically the 
same amount as corn meal. 

Gluten meal fed alone would be considered a very narrow ra- 
tion, for it contains 1 pound of digestible protein to 1.9 pounds of 
digestible carbohydrates and their equivalents. Dairymen who have 
used gluten meal can vouch for its value where it is fed with foods 
of a more bulky nature that are lacking in protein and fat. Experi- 
ments performed at many stations verify the fact that it is as valu- 
able as its favorable analysis implies. It has been demonstrated that 
it is equal to cottonseed meal and that a ration consisting of corn 
meal, bran and gluten meal is at least 10 per cent better for stimu- 
lating milk production than is a ration consisting of corn meal and 
bran only. 

That gluten meal is a valuable food for cows is a fact. The 
extent with which it should be used depends upon its cost per ton 
as compared with other protein foods, a factor which will be dis- 
cussed in a later chapter. 

Gluten Feed and Germ Oil Meal 

Gluten feed is gluten meal plus corn bran. It is, therefore, less 
concentrated, less digestible and lower in feeding value than gluten 
meal and of much greater feeding value than corn bran. There are 
two distinct reasons why gluten feed is more largely used than 
gluten meal. 

In the first place, corn bran is so low in feeding value that feed- 
ers discriminate against it. It is a by-product difficult to sell. To 
rid themselves of it at a fair price, manufacturers mix it with the 
meal forming gluten feed and the feeder purchases it readily in this 
disguised form. 

In the second place, under the majority of conditions feeders 
secure equally as good, if not more satisfactory, results from the feed 
than they would from the meal. This is because many feeders are 
careless and wasteful in their feeding operations. Gluten meal being 
more concentrated, there is more danger of over-feeding animals with 
it than there is with gluten feed. Being more expensive, wastes are 



Corn and Its By-Products 45 

more costly and, naturally, where careless feeding methods are em- 
ployed it is more difficult to secure economical results. It is especially 
feasible to use the feed, in preference to the meal, in sections where 
carbohydrates are nearly or quite as expensive as protein; also 
where a small rather than a large variety of foods constitute the ra- 
tion. 

In the hands of the expert feeder gluten meal is usually the 
cheaper source of feeding nutrients. Such a feeder mixes several 
foods in a careful, intelligent manner that insures palatability, bulk, 
digestibility, variety and a right proportion of the essential nutrients 
at the least cost. Although gluten meal costs him more per ton, the 
rule is that he secures digestible nutrients, especially protein, cheaper 
per pound than in gluten feed. 

This, however, depends upon the relative price per ton, and oc- 
casionally the reverse is true, in which event the feed is used in pref- 
erence to the meal. 

The feeder must always keep in mind the fact that he is striving 
for both large and economical results and judge between feeds accord- 
ingly. This does not imply that he can always base his determina- 
tions upon feed analysis, because experiments and experiences indi- 
cate that in certain instances foods lower in analysis produce better 
results than other foods which, from the chemist's standpoint, should 
prove superior. This can hardly prove true with regard to gluten 
feed as compared with gluten meal, however, because they are so 
nearly analogous in physical characteristics, both being by-products 
of corn. 

Gluten feed, like gluten meal, is a kiln-dried product and, there- 
fore, contains about the same proportionate weight of water and dry 
matter. Because of the presence of bulky corn bran gluten feed is the 
more bulky, and the greatness of the bulk as well as the feeding 
value depend to a very large degree upon the percentage of bran 
present in proportion to the amount of meal. 

Plate No. 12 illustrates the amount of ash or mineral matter 
contained in 100 pounds of gluten feed and also indicates the relative 
amounts of digestible and indigestible material. A comparison of this 
with plate No. 9 impresses one with the fact that even though the 
feed contained equally as large percentages of total nutrients as the 
meal, it would not be as valuable a food because of the greater 
amount of indigestible material, which is valuable only as it adds to 
the bulkiness of the ration. 

Because of the fact that both gluten feed and gluten meal are 
purchased more largely for furnishing protein, plate No. 13 will 
prove especially interesting. It demonstrates clearly the position 



46 



Feeding tpie Dairy Cow 




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Corn and Its By-Products 47 

gluten feed holds as a source of feeding nutrients. By comparing this 
with plate No. 10 the reader will secure an accurate idea of the rela- 
tive value of the two corn by-products. Because it ranks considerably 
lower than gluten meal, the conclusion should not be drawn that 
gluten feed is not a valuable food for stimulating milk production. 
On the contrary, it ranks among the best of foodstuffs and is used by 
dairymen, by breeders, and especially by those who are striving to 
make large milk and butter records in all parts of the country where 
the securing of protein is a problem. 

As previously indicated, it is a safer food to use than gluten 
meal, and where its cost permits and conditions demand, it may be 
fed as largely as five, six, or even eight, pounds daily mixed with 
other feeds without injuring the cow. It should not be fed heavily 
to cows just before and immediately following calving, or to cows 
affected with udder troubles, for when corn meal and gluten feed are 
fed heavily inflammation and other udder troubles are aggravated. 
Cows not accustomed to gluten do not find it palatable probably be- 
cause of the slight percentage of acid remaining as a result of the pro- 
cess of manufacture, but, after becoming accustomed to the taste, 
they eat it with avidity. Because of this it should be added to ra- 
tions in small amounts and gradually when its use is first begun. 
Used judiciously both gluten feed and gluten meal are valuable to 
use with carbonaceous foods for furnishing protein in digestible form, 
and I do not hestitate to recommend their use when prices, compared 
with prices of other protein foods, warrant it. 

From the germ of the corn oil is extracted and a residue remains. 
This is termed germ oil meal. It is another valuable by-product of 
corn. This fact has been recognized for many years by breeders of 
swine, but dairymen have been slow to utilize it in their feeding 
operations. This is, no doubt, due to the fact that teachings per- 
taining to the compiling of dairy rations have so persistently ad- 
vocated the purchasing of foods on a protein basis that the value of 
carbohydrates and fat has been, to a large degree, overlooked. Con- 
ditions vary so greatly from year to year, however, that the feeder 
who realizes the true merits of all foodstuffs can very often well af- 
ford to use feeds that in other years he would find by comparison to 
be over-expensive. Furthermore, the feeder of the south, where 
cottonseed meal is plentiful and cheap ; the feeder of the west, where 
alfalfa is often a drug on the market, and the feeder of the east, who 
finds carbonaceous foods almost, if not quite, as expensive as pro- 
tein, will as a rule find germ oil meal a most advisable source of es- 
sential food nutrients. 



48 



Feeding the Dairy Cow 




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Corn and Its By-Products 49 

This winter, even throughout the corn belt, the dairyman has 
been able to purchase all nutrients in germ oil meal cheaper than in 
corn meal. We have fed many tons of it v^ith most excellent results 
in maintaining condition of animals and stimulating economical milk 
production. 

Like other kiln-dried commercial foods, germ oil meal contains 
a low proportion of moisture, and here is its first value over corn 
meal. 

Germ oil meal compares favorably in its content of ash and di- 
gestible material with corn meal as illustrated in plate No. 15. 

Analysis shows germ oil meal to contain more digestible protein 
and fat than corn meal and only 3 per cent less carbohydrates. By 
reducing the fat to terms of carb.)hydrates the fact is revealed that 
germ oil meal is nearly equal to corn meal in energy values. As a 
matter of fact, experience will demonstrate this by-product to be at 
least equal to corn meal and a comparison of plates No. 16 and No. 3 
will show how closely they compare in feeding nutrients. 

This winter there has been a difference of from $4 to $6 per ton 
in price between corn meal and germ oil meal in favor of the latter. 

Because of the high content of fat left after the oil has been ex- 
tracted from the germ, the concensus of opinion has been that germ 
oil meal is not safe to feed in large amounts. To determine this 
point we have this year fed as high as five pounds daily to individual 
cows with excellent results and no apparent ill effects. 

In the fall, germ oil meal usually sells at a very reasonable price 
— in fact, so reasonable that dairymen can afiford to sell corn and in- 
vest the proceeds in it and furnish additional variety to the rations, 
at the same time reducing their cost and increasing their efficiency. 

Another distinct and favorable point is that the oil contained in 
germ oil meal adds to the ration to a large degree the physical value 
furnished by linseed meal and may be substituted for a portion of 
this much more expensive by-product. 

While germ oil meal remains low in price, the dairyman can well 
afford to join the swine breeder in utilizing it in compounding rations 
for large and economical production and for maintaining a most de- 
sirable condition in his animals. 

Hominy Feed 

*'Now," said Mr. Jones, energetically, "I think it's high tim.e, 
Jimmie, that you began to learn something, and I am going to teach 
you, so we will begin by counting the people in our family." 

"Yeth, thir," said Jimmie. 

"Now, mother is one, and I am one, so that makes two, 
doesn't it?'' 



50 Feeding the Dairy Cow 

"Yeth, thir," said Jimmie. 

"And grandma is one more, and she makes how many?" 

Jimmie looked interested, but doubtful. 

''Three, isn't it?" prompted father. 

"Yeth, thir," said Jimmie. 

"And, now, there's grandpa. He makes — how many? Four, 
isn't it?" 

"Yeth, thir," said Jimmie. 

"And there's Aunt Ellen. She makes — how many? Five, isn't it?" 

"Yeth, thir," said Jimmie. 

"And, then, there's Uncle Stephen. He makes — " 

"But, daddy," exclaimed Jimmie, "do they all make hominy?" 

Making hominy and brewers' grits is an industry of large dimen- 
sions in the corn belt. Large breweries use grits by trainloads, and 
the extensive use of hominy is well known. Flominy and brewers' 
grits are made in quite the same manner. Kernels of corn are soaked 
and while soft the bran and germ, with the starchy material that 
adheres to them, are removed. When these are ground and kiln-dried 
they are known as hominy feed or hominy chop. 

More nearly than any other by-product hominy feed resembles 
corn meal in its analysis and feeding qualities. No doubt that is the 
reason why feeders in general are not more familiar with its use. 
So great has been the tendency on the part of the educators to base 
feed values on the content of protein that many very useful feeds 
have been given little consideration. To do this is to assume that 
carbohydrates are either always of such abundance or so cheap in 
price that they deserve little consideration. This is wrong, for in 
many sections cows are being fed rations not only deficient in carbo- 
hydrate materials but over-balanced with protein because carbo- 
hydrates are available only in feeds that are high in price. The truth 
of this is exemplified by the fact that right now the feeder, located 
in the heart of the corn belt where corn is cheaper than any place else 
on earth, can purchase carbohydrates and their equivalents cheaper 
in the form of hominy feed than he can in corn meal. It is true that 
prices for corn are exceptionally high this year, but as a rule hominy 
feed is practically as cheap a food as corn meal. 

For feeding dairy cows it is equal to and by many feeders con- 
sidered superior to corn meal. By way of supplying variety and bulk 
to the ration, the rule is that a portion of the corn raised on the farm 
can well be sold and the proceeds invested in hominy feed. 

Being a kiln-dried product hominy contains only 9.6 pounds of 
moisture ; therefore, more dry matter than corn meal, as plate No. 17 
shows. 



Corn and Its By-Products 51 

This is a point not alone favorable to its feeding value but also 
to its keeping qualities. Because it can be kept indefinitely under 
ordinary storage conditions, it can be purchased in wholesale lots at 
a considerable saving to the feeder. This is not true of corn meal 
which in hot weather molds if stored in large volumes. 

It is well to give consideration to the exact moisture in all kiln- 
dried foods, though, for unless thoroughly dried the manufacturer 
will profit at the expense of the feeder and the keeping qualities of 
the product will be less stable. 

Because a large percentage of the starch or heavier part of the 
corn has been eliminated there remains a larger percentage of bran. 
Therefore, hominy feed contains a larger percentage of indigestible 
material and much more ash than corn meal. 

Strange as it may seem, there is also practically as large a 
content of digestible material. This is made possible by the lower 
percentage of water. Because of these conditions hominy feed is 
much more bulky than corn and quite as palatable. 

Thus far the reader will agree that as a substitute for corn meal 
it is advisable to use hominy feed when prices favor, because it is 
a superior feed, as comparison of plate No. 18 with plate No. 2 will 
show. 

From the standpoint of digestible nutrients, hominy feed is again 
slightly better than corn meal. It contains slightly less protein, but 
the reader should not think of hominy feed as a protein feed. It is 
not. When used' as corn meal is used it should be supplemented 
with foods rich in protein, there being only one pound of this essen- 
tial nutrient to 11 pounds of carbohydrate material. 

In carbohydrates corn meal leads with 67.8 pounds per hundred- 
weight as compared with 61.2 pounds in a like amount of hominy 
feed, but in fat content the latter food contains so great an amount 
that after reducing to carbohydrate equivalents in both cases it is 
found that 100 pounds of hominy feed contain practically the same 
amount of the energy-producing material. 

Thus it is found that in every respect hominy feed ranks well 
with corn meal from an analytical standpoint. 

"The proof of the pudding is in the eating." The final question 
is: What are the results secured by practical feeders? Mere analy- 
sis, valuable as it is, does not always portray the whole truth relative 
to a foodstuff. Sometimes the practical feeder secures results from 
feeds not accounted for by analysis, and at other times his results 
are less favorable than analysis indicates they should be. 



52 



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Corn and Its By-Products 53 

Hominy feed lives up to the chemist's recommendations. It is 
used largely by feeders of record cows in substitution for corn meal 
either in part or entirely. In the parlance of the feeder, "it is not 
so heating as corn meal." This is because it is more bulky. It has 
less tendency to injure udders when fed heavily and cows remain on 
feed more steadily when it is used. Our own experience indicates 
that it is equal, pound for pound, to corn meal, and today we can 
purchase it for $2.50 per ton less. We feed no corn meal. 



CHAPTER IV. 

WHEAT AND ITS BY-PRODUCTS 

Wheat, being considered superior to corn for human food, is not 
so generally available for stock-feeding purposes. 

There are sections, however, where wheat is grown almost to 
the exclusion of corn, and in such places it sometimes proves a more 
eiconomical source of feeding nutrients, especially carbohydrates. 
It is not the rule, however, even where wheat is abundantly grown, 
that the higher class grades can be considered favorably for feeding 
dairy cows. On the other hand, there is always much wheat that, 
from a commercial or milling standpoint, will not command top 
prices. For feeding purposes these lower grades are practically, 
though not quite, as valuable as are the higher grades and can usu- 
ally be purchased at a price which warrants their use in feeding 
dairy animals. For this reason dairymen in sections where wheat 
is largely grown should familiarize themselves with its feeding value. 

Wheat, like corn, is a carbonaceous food. Its use, therefore, de- 
mands an addition of foods rich in protein for the stimulation of 
large and persistent production. 

Although, as is shown by Plate 22, wheat contains less fat 
than corn, it ranks higher in carbohydrates, protein and mineral 
matter. More than this, the mineral matter consists more largely 
of phosphorus and potash than does the mineral matter contained 
in corn. This and the larger content of protein would favor wheat; 
but experiments of a practical nature conducted to determine the 
relative value of the two indicate that the feeder is justified in 
considering them equal, pound for pound, in feeding dairy cows. 

For young and growing animals, wheat has an advantage over 
corn because of the importance of potash, phosphorus and protein in 
developing bone and muscle. With these facts in mind it is easy 
to decide whether the feeding of ground wheat to dairy cows is ad- 
visable. 

If the feeder finds available discolored wheat, or that which will 
not grade high because of an over-abundance of shrunken kernels, 
and it can be purchased a trifle more cheaply than corn or other feed^ 
which supply carbohydrates, then it will be more profitably to feed 
it to dairy cows than to market it. 

Furthermore, there is always present in wheat a sufficient 
amount of shrunken kernels, chaff and weed seed so that the wheat 
farmer can well afford, under ordinary conditions, to clean his wheat 



Wheat and Its By-Products 55 

and offer for sale only the choicest grade and retain on his farm the 
remainder of the crop for feeding purposes. A sufficiently higher 
price per bushel will be secured for the better grade so that when 
the feeding and fertilizing values of what remains on the 
farm are considered more profit from the crop will be secured, the 
wheat farmer will find employment for the winter months, and his 
farm will be kept in a higher state of fertility. 

Because wheat farmers have not recognized these facts, millers 
have profited. Wheat is purchased at a lower price because it will 
not grade high. By a simple mechanical process the millers take 
from their purchases, gathered from large areas, the weed seeds, 
chaff and inferior kernels, leaving wheat of the finest quality to be 
resold or ground into flour and by-products. 

That which they take out is sold as screenings. The feeding 
value of screenings depends upon the percentage of wheat present as 
compared with weed seed and foreign products. Because this pro- 
portion varies so greatly a definite feeding value cannot be placed 
upon wheat screenings. Nevertheless, these screenings find a large 
demand among manufacturers of mixed commercial feeds. This is 
not a reflection on the feed manufacturer, for there is present in these 
screenings valuable feeding nutrients. It is fortunate there is a 
market for them in view of the fact that the wheat raiser has been in 
the past, and is yet, overlooking almost entirely his great opportunity 
for providing himself with one of the most valuable feeds for dairy 
animals and other livestock. 

In sections where wheat is not extensively grown it is true that 
dairymen can purchase wheat screenings at reasonable prices. 
Whether this is advisable depends upon the ability of the dairyman 
to estimate the value of screenings, for this differs very greatly, ac- 
cording to the amount and character of the weed seeds and chaff 
present. In any event whether the screenings are raised on the farm 
or purchased, they should be finely ground in order to be readily di- 
gested and to eliminate the danger of introducing or perpetuating 
vicious weeds. 

Wheat is so largely used for milling purposes that dairymen are 
not so much interested in the value of the whole kernels for feeding 
purposes as they are in the by-products. In the manufacture of flour 
the miller tries to secure as large a milling percentage as possible of 
high-grade white flour because from this source he secures his high- 
est prices. If two-thirds of the wheat mills into flour of high grade, 
he has performed his duty efficiently. 

For flour purposes he uses only the inner part of the kernel, 
which consists of the starchy and glutenous parts. That which re- 



56 



Feeding the Dairy Cow 




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Wheat and Its By-Products 57 

mains is the four outer layers, or coverings of the kernel and the 
germ. To the dairyman the four outer layers are of greatest im- 
portance, for these are represented by bran. 

Sometimes the germ is milled with the flour, in which event a 
darker product results, which is not favorably accepted for human 
food. This is known as low-grade flour and is largely used for feed- 
ing purposes. 

Usually, however, the germs are mixed with the finer particles 
of bran and the small particles of flour and sold as middlings. 

Very often the term middlings and shorts are considered by the 
feed dealer as synonymous. Strictly speaking, however, shorts are 
less valuable than middlings because they consist of reground bran 
and the dirt and sweepings from the mill. Because the terms shorts 
and middlings conflict in so many instances they will be treated as 
one by-product in this discussion with the suggestion that, if either 
is used by the reader, he determine before purchasing that the prod- 
uct he is securing is really middlings and not mill sweepings. 

Owing to the fact that it is estimated that there are approxi- 
mately 5,000,000 tons of wheat products produced in the United 
States annually, the following discussions pertaining to them will be 
of special interest to the breeder, for it is worth his while to have a 
well defined knowledge of their feeding value. 

Low Grade Flour 

It is sometimes possible to purchase low-grade flour at a price 
in keeping with its feeding value. Under such conditions its use is 
advisable in a limited way. Because of its concentrated form, how- 
ever, and because of the pasty, sticky mass it makes when mixed 
with saliva, it must be mixed with other concentrates in order to be 
palatable or successfully used. From the standpoint of analysis 
alone, low-grade flour is a feed almost perfectly balanced for milk 
production. It contains one pound of digestible protein for each 
four pounds of digestible carbohydrates and carbohydrate equiva- 
lents. It, therefore, provides a most excellent example of the fact 
that theory alone will not suffice in feeding animals successfully. 
The observance of practical results is essential. In the face of the 
fact that low-grade flour analyzes so excellently as a concentrated 
ration, there are three reasons why it cannot be used alone for feed- 
ing dairy cows. 

First, it is usually too high in price to constitute an entire con- 
centrated ration. Second, because of its unpalatable nature when 
moistened with saliva, its use to the exclusion of other feeds is not 
practical. Third, it is not sufficiently bulky. 



58 



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Wheat and Its By-Products 59 

For these reasons the feeder is interested in low-grade flour 
only to the extent that if it becomes possible at any time for him to 
purchase feeding nutrients in that form at a price more reasonable 
than in any other form, he may be in position to do so and feed it 
according to the methods by which its use can be successfully and 
profitably employed. 

Plate No. 23 illustrates the comparative bulk of it as a dairy 
feed, and the low proportion of moisture to the dry matter. 

Plate No. 24 shows its value as compared with shorts, mid- 
dlings and bran. 

Low-grade flour contains a much lower percentage of indigesti- 
ble material than these by-products and lacks only 4 per cent of con- 
taining as large an amount of digestible material per 100 pounds as 
ground wheat. From the standpoint of ash content it is considerably 
more valuable than ground wheat, containing nearly 50 per cent 
more of this essential material. 

Considered from the standpoint of digestible protein and fat 
content, low-grade flour is much superior to ground wheat, as in- 
dicated by plate No. 25. 

It may be stated that low-grade flour fed in such amounts as 
are agreeable to the likes of the cow is somewhat more valuable than 
middlings or bran in supplying digestible feeding nutrients and fur- 
nishes more ash and protein than either ground corn or ground 
wheat and more fat than the latter, although it is less valuable than 
either in supplying digestible carbohydrates. 

Wheat Middlings or Shorts 

Strictly speaking these two by-products are dissimilar. Very 
often one product is sold under both names. The purchaser should 
insist on securing wheat middlings, regardless of whether it is sold 
under that name or under the name of shorts. Technically, shorts, 
consisting of reground bran and mill sweepings, vary greatly in 
value and feeding analysis. If purchased at all by the discriminat- 
ing dairyman, they should be purchased at a price sufficiently low 
to justify their use. 

On the other hand, wheat middlings are valuable, being well 
proportioned in digestible nutrients and containing one pound of 
protein to 4.1 pounds of digestible carbohydrates and carbohydrate 
equivalents. 

As shown by plate No. 26, middlings are much more bulky than 
either ground wheat or low-grade flour and contain a large amount 
of dry matter in proportion to moisture. 

Plate No. 27 illustrates one very valuable factor incorporated 
in wheat middlings, as well as the factor which shows why wheat 



60 Feeding the Dairy Cow 

middlings should not be considered worth as much per ton as are 
many other feeds. 

Wheat middlings are especially valuable in furnishing mineral 
matter, containing as they do 4.4 pounds of ash per 100 pounds. As 
in wheat, this mineral matter is valuable because it is largely com- 
posed of phosphorus and potash, the essential ingredients for bone 
development as well as for stimulating milk and butterfat produc- 
tion. Added to a ration lacking in these minerals wheat middlings 
are, indeed, valuable. 

It is also shown in this illustration that middlings contain 21.3 
pounds of indigestible material in each hundredweight. Because of 
this, in each ton there are present 426 pounds of material which is 
of no value except as it gives bulk to the ration and thereby aids in 
the digestion of other foods. Because, however, a ton of middlings 
contains only 1,574 pounds of digestible nutrients, including water 
and ash, or only 1,366 pounds of digestible nutrients, exclusive of 
water, the practical feeder will at once recognize that if he pays a 
high price per ton for middlings in comparison with many other 
feeds, he cannot expect his results will be economical even though 
they may be large. 

A comparison of plate No. 28 with plate No. 25 shows wheat 
middlings to contain .8 per cent more fat than low-grade flour, but 
10.3 per cent less digestible carbohydrates and. 1.4 per cent less di- 
gestible protein. 

Like low-grade flour, but to a lesser extent, wheat middlings be- 
come sticky and pasty when mixed with saliva, and, therefore, their 
use should be employed with other feeds that will counteract this 
disadvantage. 

Where wheat middlings can be purchased at a price as low as 
ground corn or ground wheat, they may be advisably used as a sub- 
stitute for a portion of these other feeds. Where higher in price 
they should be used merely to furnish bulk, protein and mineral 

matter. 

Bran 

Bran is one of the very best feeds for dairy cattle. It combines 
many virtues for which it is difficult to substitute other feeds, al- 
though when the price of this by-product exceeds its real value suc- 
cessful substitution is possible. 

Bran is bulky. Being composed of the outer layers, or cover- 
ing, of the wheat kernel, bran of acceptable quality is light and 
flaky, and, when added to the ration in liberal amounts, renders the 
ration more readily digestible than though a heavier weed were 
used. The greatness of this bulk as compared with other concen- 
trated foodstuflfs is made apparent by plate No. 29, 



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Indigestible 





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—exact vplume, 12x12x41 



100 pounds wheat 



Wheat and Its By-Products 61 

Bran is extremely palatable to the dairy animal and eaten with 
avidity. Because of this palatability and its light, bulky nature, it 
has a cooling effect upon the digestive system. Where rations are 
composed largely of bran, cows are not so liable to sicken or go ''off 
feed" as when rations are compounded without its use. 

Bran has a laxative effect upon the dig'estive system of the ani- 
mal, which action, until recently, was presumed to be due to its 
physical character. More recently experiments conducted at the 
New York Experiment Station seemed to demonstrate that the large 
amount of phosphorus present in the mineral matter of bran not 
only accounts for the laxative effect but also for the fact that the 
condition of the animal is so well preserved when bran is liberally 
ied. 

This determination was by a system of experiments where 
whole bran was fed in comparison with washed bran or bran from 
which the mineral matter had been leached by washing with water. 
It was found quite definitely that bran from which the mineral mat- 
ter had been extracted encouraged a larger milk flow, but that whole 
bran encouraged a higher percentage of butterfat and a more laxa- 
tive condition of the digestive apparatus. 

Plate No. 30 is of interest and value in that it shows the pres- 
ence of 6.3 pounds of ash per hundredweight of bran. This is a much 
larger percentage of mineral matter than is contained in any feed 
heretofore considered in this discussion. This illustration also points 
to the deficiency of bran, which is its content of indigestible ma- 
terial, amounting to 26.5 per cent. This, added to the 10.1 pounds of 
water contained in each hundredweight of bran, points to the ex- 
travagance of paying the large prices that are now current for this 
by-product. In each ton of bran the purchaser secures 732 pounds 
of water and indigestible material and only 1,268 pounds of digest- 
ible nutrients which go to produce milk and butterfat. 

So well recognized, however, is the fact that bran is a useful 
and valuable food for dairy cattle, feeders have permitted them- 
selves to disregard the fact that equal value can be supplied by the 
use of cheaper feed. On many dairy farms extensive use of wheat 
bran largely decreases the profit from milk and butterfat production. 

At present prices there is no justification in purchasing bran 
from the standpoint of furnishing protein, carbohydrates or fat. 
This fact is illustrated definitely by plate No. 31, which shows the 
low content of each of these nutrients as compared with other foods 
that can be purchased at a trifle higher price per ton. Because of 
this the wise feeder will secure the necessary digestible nutrients 
from other sources, and, if he finds it necessary to use wheat bran 



62 Feeding the Dairy Cow 

at all, will use it in a limited manner merely to add bulk, palatability 
and phosphorus to the ration. < 

At certain seasons of the year wheat bran is comparatively 
cheap in price and if the feeder is thoughtful he will estimate 
closely the amount necessary for his feeding operation, covering an 
entire year, and lay in his supply at that time. Unless he does so, 
he can rest assured that he can secure much more economical results 
by employing other feeds and using very lightly of bran. 

There are conditions which often exist on dairy farms when 
the use of wheat bran is essential and when no other feed can be suc- 
cessfully substituted. These conditions exist at parturition time 
and when animals are out of condition. Even though bran com- 
manded a higher price per ton than it does at the present time, its 
use could well be employed for preparing animals for freshening 
or for conditioning the over-worked digestive apparatus. 

All dairy cows should be taught to eat bran mashes with avid- 
ity. When the cow approaches within two weeks of freshening, her 
concentrated ration should consist of a liberal supply of bran mixed 
with ground oats and linseed meal worked into the form of a mash 
with water. At this period the cow will learn, with a day or two of 
teaching, to eat such mashes, and as parturition approaches she 
will round into perfect condition to give birth to her offspring and 
start on her new lactation period. Three or four days following 
freshening she may be returned to solid feed and, if the price of bran 
indicates the necessity, this by-product may gradually be eliminated 
from the ration, either in whole or in part, and other foods sub- 
stituted. 

Now that the cow has become accustomed to mashes and rel- 
ishes them, at any time during her milking period when she tires of 
solid feed and begins to decline in milk flow, she may have her di- 
gestive apparatus rested by substituting bran mashes for a short time 
in place of the more solid food to which she has been subjected. 

So valuable is bran in any ration, it can well be used when the 
price is within reach. Always it can and should be used for special 
purposes. The feeder should bear these two facts in mind and use 
bran liberally when its worth justifies its price, and to an extent 
price should be overlooked when its use is employed for special pur- 
poses. 

When bran was extremely cheap, advisors became so accus- 
tomed to recommending its use that it seems difficult for them to 
overcome the habit. Even today dairy farmers in all parts of the 
world are advised to use wheat bran largely; and this in the face of 
the fact that in most sections it has reached a price where the feeder 



63 

stuffs, at 

I accrues 
cordance 







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PLATE 29. 




Wheat and Its By-ProductS 63 

can secure all of the values bran possesses from other foodstuflfs, at 
a cheaper price, by properly mixing them. 

As surely as dairying is carried on for the profit which accrues 
from it, the dairyman should use bran judiciously, in accordance 
with its necessity and its worth compared with its cost. 



CHAPTER V. 

OATS 

As a single concentrated feed for all classes of dairy animals 
oats have no superior. When ground, crushed or rolled they are pal- 
atable, bulky, light, easily digested, and when fed in abundance with 
leguminous hays and silage they furnish digestible feeding nutrients 
in just about the proper proportion. In fact, oats illustrate as nearly 
as one single grain can what a concentrated dairy ration should be. 
Practical feeders have long recognized this fact, and even those who 
doubt the value of a balanced ration, when referred to as such, dis- 
cover in oats — which by themselves form a balanced ration — a feed 
most suitable for growing young animals, feeding work horses and 
stimulating large milk production. 

Trainers of race horses have been the most persistent champions 
of oats. It is generally believed among horsemen that a peculiar 
characteristic possessed by oats, and not by any other grain, is that 
of imparting stamina and vim to the animal fed largely of them. 
Even chemists have in the past believed they have discovered the 
presence of alkaloid and to this they have attributed the value pe- 
culiar to oats. Whether this is the solution of why this grain meets 
with so general favor with the practical feeder is not definitely known. 
* There are several well defined reasons why oats, especially when 
properly combined with other feeds, should prove very satisfactory in 
formulating rations. 

They are extremely palatable. Only one cow have I ever 
known that would not with avidity and in abundance eat ground oats. 
They are bulky, as illustrated by plate No. 32, and, therefore, they 
are not only readily digested but, because of the beneficial effect they 
have on the digestion of other concentrates with which they are mixed, 
they aid in the digestion of the entire ration. Because of their light, 
bulky, palatable character, animals eat largely of them with more 
safety than though they were more concentrated and less readily di- 
gested. 

Plate No. 33 indicates — as is the case with bran — that oats con- 
tain an appreciable amount of indigestible material. This fact is due 
to the presence of the hull, which is largely crude fibre and of little 
feeding value other than adding bulk. On account of this, and be- 
cause ground oats cost so much they are considered too expensive 
where economical, as well as large, results are the aim. For special 
purposes it is permissible to feed them. Under most conditions the 



Oats 65 

wise feeder will arrange his rations in a manner necessitating the 
smallest possible" use of oats in order to enlarge his profits. 

Experiment has shown ground oats to be at least 10 per cent 
more valuable for stimulating milk production than is bran. There- 
fore, in choosing between bran and oats the feeder can by bearing this 
comparison in mind determine for himself when it is economical to 
use oats for general feeding purposes. For instance, when bran costs 
$25 per ton, ground oats costing $27.50 per ton are economical to feed 
in substitution for bran or in conjunction with it. 

Mineral matter to the extent of 3.3 pounds is found in 100 pounds 
of oats. This and the 64.9 pounds of digestible dry matter constitute 
the real feeding value of a hundredweight of oats. This is not a large 
amount as compared with other foods such as ground corn, gluten 
meal, cottonseed meal, oil meal, etc. 

The distribution of digestible nutrients in ground oats is shown 
in plate No. 34. Although oats are not high in protein they are not 
high in carbohydrates and fat either. Therefore, the proportion of 
protein to carbohydrates and carbohydrate equivalents is as one 
pound is to six pounds. It is this proportion of nutrients that ren- 
ders ground oats well balanced as a sole ration. 

Under certain conditions cost of digestible nutrients is a consid- 
eration of secondary importance. For this reason there are times 
when oats can be used though they seem expensive. 

No feed is more useful for conditioning cows to freshen and for 
starting them on their yearly lactation period than ground oats. 
Every hard-working cow should be turned dry and given six weeks 
rest between lactation periods. As soon as completely dry, system- 
atic and liberal feeding should be commenced. Ground oats are ex- 
cellent for the purpose, and cows may be fed from 8 to 12 pounds 
without danger to their health. Such feeding adds flesh, strength and 
stamina to the cow's body and brings her through the parturition 
period in a most excellent condition. She gives birth successfully to 
a strong, rugged calf and starts her year's work in a most commend- 
able manner without being overfed at this time when naturally she 
is weakened from the effects of parturition. More than this, she milks 
with persistence because she is able to reserve for a long time the sur- 
plus flesh and stamina she has been encouraged to store in her body. 
Expensive, therefore, as oats may be and even though too expensive 
to feed under ordinary conditions, they are one of the most econom- 
ical feeds for use during a period covering 30 days prior to freshening, 
when the purpose for which feed is given is to establish certain con- 
ditions, and for 30 days following freshening, when the purpose is 
that of encouraging regular and large daily increase of milk yield. At 



66 • Feeding the Dairy Cow 

no other time is it so important to use excellent methods in feeding 
dairy cows as during the 60-day period just referred to. The manner 
in which a cow is brought through this part of her year governs very 
largely the amount of milk and butterfat she will yield during her 
lactation period. 

For young and growing animals it is well known that oats are 
excellent. It is difficult, indeed, to provide a ration for young, grow- 
ing calves without the use of oats. Up to the time a calf reaches the 
age of one year it is permissible and advisable to feed whole oats. 
This is because one of the points to be observed in feeding calves is 
to develop and distend the digestive apparatus. A characteristic of 
the young calf's feeding power is that whole oats are thoroughly and 
readily digested. After the calf has passed the age of one year, how- 
ever, changes take place in the digestive apparatus, and no longer can 
whole oats be fed with economy because a large percentage of them 
pass on undigested and are wasted. 

Expensive as oats are for feeding purposes when ground, they 
may be considered from 10 to 25 per cent more expensive when fed 
whole. Experiments show that when fed alone, or with other con- 
centrates, from 10 to 25 per cent are wasted because undigested. With 
the exception of when oats are fed to young calves, they should be 
thoroughly ground in order to accomplish the purpose for which they 
are given and to make their use other than prohibitive because of cost. 

It is true that one distinct advantage with regard to oats is that 
they are in most sections, home grown. Nevertheless, they have a 
distinct market value, so that with the exception of using them for 
special purposes their use should be determined on a business basis 
and with regard to furnishing the ration with palatability, bulk, 
mineral matter and digestibile nutrients in the most efficient and 
economical manner. 

At elevators where they are screened there is an ofifal consist- 
ing of the very lightest kernels, and these are valuable in accord- 
ance with the proportion of the kernel to hull, which is not usually 
very large. If these light oats are to be used at all, they should be 
secured at a very low price. In oatmeal factories the oat hulls, the 
light oats and oat dust are made available as by-products, but these 
are utilized very largely by commercial feed manufacturers and not 
generally available. Even though they were, their value would be 
large or small according to the manner in which they were mixed 
with other foods. They are useful very largely for giving bulk and 
palatability to other feeds with which the}? are mixed, and appar- 
ently the stimulating properties of oats are contained in these by- 
product materials. 



Oats 67 

Oat Meal or Rolled Oats 

It sometimes occurs, though seldom, that the feeder finds oat 
meal, that for some reason or other is not suitable for human food, 
available for feeding purposes. Perhaps it has become a trifle moldy, 
old or dry and is unsalable. In such instances it can be purchased 
as cheaply as or sometimes more cheaply than ground oats. When 
this opportunity presents itself the wise feeder will certainly pur- 
chase it in preference to any other oat product. Experience teaches 
that where price makes it possible to use oat meal, it is one of the 
very best of foods for stimulating milk production. 

Seemingly it has all the value of ground oats with the disad- 
vantage, occasioned by a large percentage of the indigestible ma- 
terial, removed. It is a much heavier product and not so bulky, as 
is illustrated by plate No. 35. It is very palatable and easily digested. 
Cows can eat largely of oat meal or rolled oats without any ill ef- 
fects. There is no better food for conditioning cows for freshening; 
neither is there a better food for stimulating rapid increase in milk 
production after freshening, without overfeeding, than rolled oats. 

There are expert and experienced feeders striving for large rec- 
ords with the economy of production a secondary consideration who 
use rolled oats during the first 30 days of a cow's lactation period 
with much success. Because of the expense, however, they are used 
sparingly and more largely as an appetizer and a stimulator than 
as a real source of feeding nutrients. 

That rolled oats are more valuable to a considerable extent 
than are ground oats is made apparent by comparing plate No. 36 
with plate No. 33. In 100 pounds of rolled oats there are 2.9 pounds 
of water, 6.6 pounds of indigestible matter and 1.3 pounds of min- 
eral matter less than in a like amount of ground oats. 

Because of this, there are 10.8 pounds more digestible material. 
In other words, there is considerably more feeding value in rolled 
oats than there is in a like amount of ground oats. Therefore, it is 
only reasonable to conclude that rolled oats are worth approximately 
17 per cent more for feeding purposes, so that, when ground oats are 
selling for $36 per ton, $42 per ton for rolled oats would not be more 
expensive, and their use at this price could be employed for special 
purposes, provided the feeder was justified in using ground oats at 
so high a price as $36 per ton. 

The only criticism offered in the use of either ground or rolled 
oats is that they are so expensive nowadays that by-products can be 
substituted for them, rendering feeding operations more economical 
and securing equally as good results. 





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Oats • 69 

Schumacher Feed 

In the process of manufacturing rolled oats, the by-products are 
light oats, oat hulls, oat clippings, oat middlings, and oat shorts. 
There seems to be a general belief that these by-products in 
themselves are very lacking in feeding value. To a large extent 
this is true, but the manufacturers of oat meal, like other manufac- 
turers, realize that, in order to pay the largest possible price for oats 
and at the same time sell the resulting oat meal product as cheaply 
as possible, so it will be a ruling factor in competitive commercial 
channels, they must make the best possible use of their by-products. 
Therefore, these undesirable parts eliminated from the oat meal are 
mixed with such other ingredients as will insure feeding value. They 
are then thoroughly mixed and ground. The resulting product is 
Schumacher feed. 

This feed, although finely ground, is quite bulky ; in fact, 100 
pounds of it occupies the same space as a like amount of rolled 
oats. The water content, as indicated by plate No. 38, is practically 
the same as that of ground oats, so it also contains a like amount of 
dry matter. A comparison of plates Nos. 33 and 34 with plates 
Nos. 39 and 40 will be of much interest, for they reveal the fact that 
Schumacher feed and ground oats are largely the same with regard 
to the digestible nutrients, the ash and the indigestible material con- 
tained in them. The largest difference between these two feeds is 
that ground oats are much more bulky and perhaps a trifle more pal- 
atable. 

Experienced feeders of dairy cattle through practical trials have 
learned, however, that Schumacher feed is almost, if not quite, as 
valuable for feeding dairy cows as are ground oats. Because of the 
high price of oats, Schumacher feed is quite generally used on farms 
where thoughtful feeders are striving for large and economical re- 
sults. 

The Massachusetts Agricultural Experiment Station experi- 
mented with Schumacher feed to determine its feeding value and its 
digestibility of nutrients. (See plates Nos. 38, 39 and 40.) The 
Massachusetts station says : "The digestibility, as well as the com- 
position, of this feed resembles that of oats." 

Because Schumacher feed resembles oats so closely, there would 
be no justification for a farmer using it in preference to ground oats ; 
in fact, we would be inclined to advise the use of ground oats instead, 
because they are a home-raised product, while Schumacher feed is a 
commercial product and must be purchased off the farm; but there 
is a controlling factor which prohibits our recommending the use of 
ground oats and also encourages us to use Schumacher feed. This 



70 



Feeding the Dairy Cow 




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Oats 71 

factor is the difference in the cost. Rather recently it has been 
possible to purchase Schumacher feed for approximately $10 less per 
ton than ground oats. In substituting this by-product for ground 
oats, when it is gradually done, the feeder will find that cows will 
yield quite as large an amount of milk and butterfat and at consider- 
ably less expense. 

So long as the present variation in price between these two use- 
ful foods continues to exist, the farmer who raises oats will be justi- 
fied in marketing them, instead of having them ground, and purchas- 
ing Schumacher feed in their place to feed with the other feeds in use. 
In so doing, a very perceptible saving will be made, resulting in a 
more economical production of milk and butterfat. 



CHAPTER VI. 

FLAX AND ITS BY-PRODUCTS 

The average annual production of flaxseed in the United States 
from 1909 to 1913 was 20,000,000 bushels. In 1914, 16,000,000 bushels 
were harvested and a like amount is estimated as the yield of 1915. 
In 1909, according to the report of the United States Department of 
Agriculture, 25,767,000 bushels were harvested. These figures show 
the rapidity with which the growing of flaxseed in the United States 
has decreased. It is generally believed that the growing of flax should 
be limited to new land. 

In addition to the flaxseed grown in this country, millions of 
bushels are imported. Primarily, its value is based upon the linseed 
oil which can be extracted, from it. Linseed meal, or oil meal, is 
merely a by-product of the linseed oil factory. 

Flaxseed meal, or ground flaxseed, would be very valuable to 
feed in small amounts to dairy cattle were it not for the fact that its 
cost prohibits its use for this purpose. It is especially valuable for 
feeding with skim-milk to calves because of its digestibility and its 
high content of fat. So saturated with linseed oil is ground flaxseed 
that the chemical analysis shows 29 per cent of digestible fat as com- 
pared with only 17.1 per cent of carbohydrates and 20.6 per cent of 
protein. Owing to the fact, however, that carbohydrates serve the 
same purpose as fat in foodstuffs, it is doubtful if ground flaxseed 
can economically be fed to any large degree even to calves. In special 
instances its use may be advised to a limited degree. 

Raw linseed oil extracted from ground flaxseed has great value 
in the dairy. This is especially true where cows are being fed for 
large production. Very often cows fed heavily sicken of their feed 
and are troubled with indigestion. Unless given immediate aid at 
such times serious results follow and the cow refuses to produce 
profitably during the remainder of her lactation period. j 

The feeder who closely watches his cows will detect the first 
symptoms of an animal ''going off feed." He will then decrease per- 
ceptibly the amount of feed given, and, if the trouble seems severe, 
he will take the entire ration away from the animal for one or two 
feeds. In place of her regular ration, he will find that a quart of raw 
linseed oil, given as a drench in a careful manner so as not to choke 
the cow, will not only adjust the digestive activities of the cow but 
will furnish nutriment in sufficient abundance to maintain her milk 
flow and butterfat production. 



Flax and Its By-Products 



73 



During the St. Louis World's Fair cow demonstration, when 
the cows under the writer's supervision were feeding close to the limit 
of capacity day after day, it was necessary to keep the digestive ap- 
paratus of every cow in as nearly perfect working order as possible. 
As a matter of fact, the digestive system of the cow is the hardest- 
worked portion of her body. So long as it is kept in healthy working 
order, the cow can be induced to do her very best in the yield of 
milk and butterfat. To insure this, raw linseed meal — in five-gallon 
lots — ^was kept available at all times. Upon the first indication of a 
cow weakening in digestive capacity her regular grain ration was 
withheld and for it a quart of raw linseed oil was given. When the 
following feeding time arrived, if the cow gave evidence that her con- 
dition was again normal and her appetite was customarily voracious, 
her regular ration, decreased a pound or two, was given her. Other- 
wise, another quart of raw linseed oil was given her instead. With 
such treatment, begun in time, I have seldom seen a case of indiges- 
tion so severe that the substitution of two quarts of raw linseed oil for 
two regular feeds of concentrates would not restore a normal diges- 
tion. Raw linseed oil is more advisable than a radical physic, if the 
case is taken in time, because it is not only a cooling, soothing bowel 
corrective, but furnishes nutriment to the extent that the cow is en- 
couraged to continue to milk quite as largely as though her regular 
concentrated ration were being fed. 

Those who use linseed oil for this purpose, however, should be 
very insistent when purchasing it that raw linseed oil is furnished ; 
because boiled linseed oil, which is so largely used in mixing paint, 
is poisonous when administered internally to animals. 

Of greatest importance to the dairymen is linseed meal. There are 
two types of this by-product known as old process linseed meal and 
new process linseed meal. The old process results when the oil is 
pressed from the seed by hydraulic pressure. When the oil is ex- 
tracted by treating flaxseed with the chemical naphtha, the resulting 
residue is steamed, dried and ground, and known as new process oil 
meal. Most of the oil meal manufactured in this country is by the 





Digestible Nutrients 




Water 


Ash 


Protein 


Carbo- 
hydrates 


Fat 


Oil meal — 


9.1 
^.1 


5.4 
5.5 


30.2 
31.7 


32. € 
37.9 


2.8 


New process ......... 





74 



Feeding the Dairy Cow 








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Flax and Its By-Products 75 

old process. This is fortunate because it is superior, all things con- 
sidered, in feeding value as a comparison of the analyses implies. 

New process oil meal has a larger content of protein and carbo- 
hydrates but old process oil meal excels in fat. 

Primarily, linseed meal is used because of its high content of 
protein, and, from this standpoint, the new process meal would be 
superior by 1.3 per cent of this nutrient. However, it is not to be 
denied that protein can be secured more cheaply from other available 
foodstuffs than it can from linseed meal, and, were this the only con- 
sideration, there would l>e little justification in its use. Oil meal has 
a secondary value, which, in conjunction with its high content of pro- 
tein, renders its use advisable on every dairy farm for certain pur- 
poses. It possesses a physical value not possessed by other feeds, 
and this value apparently increases in proportion to the amount of 
oil or fat present. Because of this, old process meal, which is prac- 
tically as valuable as the new process for furnishing digestible pro- 
tein, is superior. 

Especially when animals are on dry feed, old process oil meal is 
serviceable in keeping the digestive apparatus in healthful, working 
condition, and, used in amounts varying from one to two pounds 
daily, greatly aids the digestion of other foods. 

The only objection to linseed meal is that it is expensive for fur- 
nishing nutriment. Its cost is governed largely by supply and de- 
mand. Feeders in foreign countries are very partial to oil cake, and 
large tonnages of it are exported from the American mills. 

The cake differs from the meal in that it is unground. It is pre- 
ferred to the meal by foreign feeders because it is less expensive and 
there can be adulteration. The foreign feeder believes that an excel- 
lent opportunity is offered for mixing adulterants with the linseed 
when it is ground and sacked. The American feeder can well afford to 
consider purchasing linseed in cake form, rather than meal, for the 
same reasons, and especially because it can be bought for at least $5 
per ton less than where it must be ground and sacked. 

Furthermore, when stored in cake form and broken or ground 
just before feeding, the rich, nutty flavor which adds to palatability 
is retained. • 

Linseed meal or cake is especially valuable to use in fitting ani- 
mals for sale or show purposes. Shortly after its use is adopted, the 
feeder perceives that the hide of the animal softens, the hair becomes 
more silky and the animal takes on a more lively, active, energetic ap- 
pearance. These are merely indications of an active, thrifty, eflficient 
digestion, for it is well known that the hide and hair are merely con- 
tinuations of the inner, vital organs of the animal. The condition of 



76 Feeding the Dairy Cow 

the digestive apparatus is readily reflected in the hide and hair of the 
animal. Therefore, any food that acts favorably upon the healthful- 
ness of the digestive apparatus indicates itself in outward appear- 
ances and handling quality. 

In preparing cows for freshening, oil meal is exceptionally val- 
uable, and, fed with ground corn, ground oats and bran at the rate 
of two pounds daily for 60 or 90 days prior to freshening, it devel- 
ops a condition of quality and snappiness in the cow that insures 
successful parturition and promptness in coming to her maximum 
flow of milk. 

From the standpoint of supplying protein and mineral matter, 
linseed meal is valuable. For these purposes alone, however, the 
great demand from Europe makes it possible for the American 
farmer to supply rations with these requirements more economi- 
cally from other feeds. From the standpoint of accomplishing such 
purposes as already referred to and for keeping the animal in a 
healthful, thrifty, vigorous condition, there is no feed that can en- 
tirely take the place of linseed. Considering these facts, the careful 
feeder who demands uniformly large results will always keep on hand 
enough linseed meal, or linseed cake, so it can be used in limited 
amounts as occasion and necessity demand. 

In sections where it is necessary to purchase commercial fertil- 
izers and in sections where fertility of the land should be conserved 
— and this means every section of the world — there is a third dis- 
tinctive value which oil meal, like all other such feeds, possesses. 
Valuing nitrogen at 20c per pound, phosphoric acid and potash each 
at 5c per pound for fertilizing purposes, it is to be found that one 
ton of old process linseed meal contains $24.71 worth of these fer- 
tilizing ingredients. When fed to livestock a large percentage of this 
value remains in the excrement and can be transferred to the fields 
if the barnyard manure is properly cared for. The fact that such 
commercial foods carry so much fertilizing value has not in the past 
been considered seriously enough by the American farmer. It is for 
this reason, that to a very large extent, the fertility of American farms 
has been and is being transferred across the ocean to enrich European 
lands, and this is one reason why, even though European farms 
have been cultivated so much longer than have American farms, the 
average production per acre is greater. 



CHAPTER VII. 

RYE AND RYE SHORTS 

Rye and its by-products are not largely used, neither are they 
considered, to any great extent, in compiling dairy rations. 

Rye and rye shorts, as shown by the accompanying plates, are 
carbonaceous in character, concentrated in form, and, according to 
analysis, should prove valuable as dairy feeds. Both are palatable 
to the animal, and both, especially rye shorts which is a by- 
product in the milling of rye flour, are cheap in price per ton. Di- 
gestible feeding nutrients, both protein and carbohydrates, can often 
be purchased very cheaply as in rye and rye products compared with 
other foods containing as large an amount of food value. 

There are three great objections to rye and rye shorts as dairy 
foods, however, and these reasons undoubtedly account for the fact 
that rye and its by-products, where fed at all to livestock, are used 
almost exclusively for hog feeding purposes. 

Rye imparts to milk, produced by its use, a characteristic, dis- 
agreeable flavor, and when butter is made a bitter taste is present. 
Were this the only objection, it could be overcome readily by limit- 
ing the use of rye to three or four pounds daily and by feeding this 
immediately after milking. In sections where rye shorts and rye 
bran can be secured at a price sufficiently low to justify their use, 
the dairyman, after assuring himself that there is no ergot on it, 
can well afford to utilize these by-products to a limited degree and 
in a judicious manner. 

Undoubtedly the most serious objection to rye, rye shorts and 
other by-products is the likelihood of ergot being present. It is a 
well known fact that ergot causes abortion, and, in many instances 
where indications have led to the belief that contagious abortion 
had attacked the herd, investigation proved that ergot, secured by 
the cows from such a source as rye, wild rye, rye straw or from cer- 
tain wild grasses, had caused the trouble. In addition to causing 
abortion, ergot also poisons cattle, causing symptoms much like 
those of paralysis. The animal becomes lame in the hind quarters, 
her legs swell, later she loses much of her hair and very often the 
bush of the tail is lost. In severe cases animals lose their hoofs and 
die. 

Ergot is not always present in rye and the occurrence of abor- 
tion and poisoning is not the rule. For this reason, it is usually con- 
sidered safe to feed rye in small amounts. Those accustomed to 



78 



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Rye and Rye Shorts 79 

feeding it soon learn to detect the appearance of ergot and thereby 
eliminate the difficulty that would be experienced by one not famil- 
iar with this fungus growth which is occasionally present and cre- 
ates havoc. 

Rye is more largely used as a green feed, or soiling ctop, and 
for this purpose it is especially valuable. Sown in the fall, it fur- 
nishes green feed later in northern climates than most any other 
grass or cereal. When spring opens_, the rye field is the first to be- 
come green, and it furnishes green food earlier than any other pas- 
ture grasses or soiling crops. Fed green, rye is very palatable and 
stimulating to milk production. It is perfectly safe to use as a late 
green feed for fall and an early green feed for spring, but, as it ap- 
proaches maturity, the feeder should make certain that it carries no 
ergot if he would continue its use as a feed instead of plowing it 
under as a green manure or removing the cattle and letting the rye 
mature as a cereal crop. 

As a rule, rye commands a good price on the market. Where, 
as is usually the case, it is possible to secure other foods for dairy 
purposes, the advisable plan is to dispose of the rye and secure 
other foods, the use of which is safer and the feeding value of which 
is greater. 

Rye is largely used for distilling purposes, and dried distillery 
grains are considered among the most valuable of dairy feeds. In 
a later chapter, however, it will be shown that when they result from 
the use of rye they are the least valuable of the various kinds of 
distillery grains manufactured. 

Rye is often referred to as ''the crop of poverty" or "the poor 
man's crop," and it is a well known fact that it will grow and thrive 
on land where other crops won't. It might also be referred to as 
the poor cow's crop, for a careful study of its value as dairy feed 
shows conclusively that, other than in the green state, it does not 
especially encourage large production. 

Rye is the least advisable grain that can be grown for dairy 
purposes except that it is vety hardy and can be grown in many 
sections with more certainty than can other grains. This, together 
with the fact that rye shorts can oftentimes be purchased cheaply, 
furnishing protein and carbohydrates in a digestible, palatable form 
at small cost, is the only reason why rye and its by-products should 
be considered at all for feeding dairy cattle. 



80 



Feeding the Dairy Cow 




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CHAPTER VIII. 

BARLEY AND ITS BY-PRODUCTS 

More bulky than corn, wheat or rye, less bulky than oats and 
equally as palatable as either, barley is a grain worthy of more gen- 
eral recognition as a home-grown food for dairy cattle than it re- 
ceives in this country. It is highly prized in Europe, especially in 
Denmark, for feeding all classes of livestock, and likewise it is quite 
largely used in the western coast states of this country. 

Where corn matures and yields well barley is not raised for 
feeding purposes because it is of the same carbonaceous character 
as corn, its yield is less per acre, and, because of its beards, it is 
more disagreeable to harvest. Furthermore, when it is grown and 
harvested, the demand for it has been so great for brewing purposes, 
provided the kernel is light and plump in color, that the economical 
method has been to sell the grain and replace it with less expensive 
feeds. 

In analysis barley is very similar to corn, wheat and rye. A 
comparison of plates Nos. 50, 51 and 52 with those illustrating the 
feeding nutrients contained in corn, wheat and rye will prove inter- 
esting because it will show the close relationship of these feeds as de- 
termined by the chemist. Barley leads in mineral matter, carrying 
4.5 per cent, or .9 per cent less than oats. It has an added value for 
feeding dairy cattle because of this. 

Barley contains more indigestible material than corn, wheat or 
rye, but this naturally follows as a result of the greater amount of 
bulk furnished by the hulls, which also tend to increase the mineral 
matter. 

Compared with corn, wheat and rye, barley contains less diges- 
tible carbohydrates. It is richer in protein and much lower in fat 
than corn and it contains approximately the same amount of fat as 
wheat and rye and somewhat less protein. 

So closely do these feeds resemble each other from the chemist's 
standpoint that, were there no other factors to be considered, they 
might well be used interchangeably pound for pound and one would 
prove equally as advisable to use in compounding rations for dairy 
animals as the other. In palatability and physical character barley 
ranks a close second to corn and, in sections where corn does not ma- 
ture well, barley is suggested as its logical substitute. In fact, the 
question as to which should be used for furnishing carbohydrates is 
answered by the availability and cost per hundredweight. 



82 Feeding the Dairy Cow 

Further than this, every dairy farm should raise some barley. 
Ground and fed in limited amounts it gives variety to the ration and 
adds to its efficiency. For special purposes, such as fitting for sale or 
show, it has a distinct value, especially when boiled and fed mixed 
with chained hay, bran and oil meal. Used in this manner as a sub- 
stitute for one regular feed daily, or as an extra evening feed, it gives 
a healthful, glossy appearance to the hair of the animal and insures a 
soft, pliable, elastic touch to the hide. Like oats, there is a certain 
value possessed by barley which the chemical analysis does not dis- 
cover but which is revealed by the animal to which it is fed. 

An excellent method of raising barley for feeding purposes is to 
grow it with oats. Because of its strength of stem it aids in keeping 
the oats from lodging, and, as almost as large a yield of oats can be 
secured, the barley will practically be raised extra on the same acre- 
age. Grown in this manner, the high price barley usually brings 
does not tempt the feeder to sell it. He, therefore, reserves it for 
feeding purposes. For growing barley in this manner, one or two 
parts should be sown with three parts of oats. 

Feeders who recognize that nearly every summer has its drouth, 
during which time cows decrease very seriously in milk flow unless 
there is green feed, now follow the practice of soiling. For this pur- 
pose, oats and field peas are largely used and soy beans or cowpeas 
farther south. In place of oats, barley is well worthy of considera- 
tion to be used for soiling purposes. In certain sections it thrives 
better than oats and it will withstand hot, dry weather better. As 
barley approaches the dough stage, if it is not cut for soiling purposes, 
it will make excellent hay for winter feeding. 

When the value of barley becomes as fully recognized by breed- 
ers of dairy cattle at is now is by breeders and exhibitors of horses 
and beef cattle, its use will be more prevalent. 

Sometimes conditions are such that digestible and palatable car- 
bohydrates can be secured more cheaply from barley than from other 
home-grown feeds. 

Barley By-Products 

The chief reason why barley has not been more generally used 
as a food for dairy cows is because of the high price it has com- 
manded for brewing purposes. In most sections equally good re- 
sults can be secured from cheaper substitutes. Where this is the 
case, it is better to sell the barley, using only the less salable por- 
tions of the crop. Even as barley is so excellent for feeding dairy 
animals so are its by-products, and usually they can be secured at 
prices warranting a judicious use of them. 



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Barley and Its By-Products 83 

In the process of malting, barley is first softened in large vats 
of warm water and then spread out in thin layers and heated to a 
temperature that will encourage the sprouting of it. This is for the 
purpose of converting the large amount of starch found in barley 
into sugar, and, when the highest possible percentage of sugar is 
developed, the barley is thoroughly dried under steam pressure. The 
sprouts are then separated from the kernels and are of no further 
use in the malting process. These are termed malt sprouts, and 
their chief value is for feeding purposes. 

Malt sprouts, as indicated by plate No. 53, are bulky in charac- 
ter; and, because they are kiln-dried, they contain only a small 
amount of moisture. One of the chief objections to them is that 
they lack palatability ; therefore, they must be considered as an ad- 
junct to rations rather than the principal part of them. When 
soaked for 10 or 12 hours malt sprouts take up large volumes of 
water and are an excellent form of succulence when fed in this man- 
ner. As shown in plate No. 54, malt sprouts contain a very large 
amount of ash and mineral matter, and again in this respect their 
use at the rate of two or three pounds daily per cow is advisable. 

Plate No. 55, when compared with plate No. 31 of a previous 
chapter, illustrates forcibly the feeding value of malt sprouts as 
compared with bran. Both feeds are high in ash, low in carbohy- 
drates and fat, and of a bulky nature. The chief difference, as shown 
by the chemist's analysis, is that malt sprouts are much higher in 
protein, and from this standpoint it w^ould appear they are consid- 
erably more valuable. Practical experience, however, does not 
agree with chemical analysis because animals do not eat malt 
sprouts with the same avidity that they eat bran, and, therefore, 
the same response is not to be expected, for palatability is a factor 
for careful consideration in valuing foodstuffs quite as is chemical 
analysis. 

When fed at the rate of two to four pounds daily mixed with 
other foods, cows become accustomed to malt sprouts and do not 
object to their presence in the ration. Their use to this extent is 
advisable when — as is generally the case — they can be purchased at 
a price less than bran, because malt sprouts add to the ration pro- 
tein in a cheap form. 

They are one of the most liberal sources of mineral matter, 
which often is lacking in the dairy cow's ration. They are bulky, 
and because of this they assist in the digestion of other foods. When 
succulence is lacking, malt sprouts, thoroughly soaked, serve well 
the purpose, although they can be fed dry. Other foods can be used 
for all of these purposes to as good advantage; therefore, the chief 



84 Feeding the Dairy Cow 

"■■ ' ■ '^- ---^ 

reason why the feeder should give his consideration to this by- 
product when securing his feed supplies is that it is low in price, and, 
used in a limited way, may be substituted in part for other foods 
and to decrease perceptibly the cost of rations, thus making the 
production of milk and butterfat more economical. 

After the malt sprouts have been eliminated from the barley 
the remainder is known as malt. As the process of beer manufac- 
ture progresses, the liquid containmg the sugar is extracted. This 
is the only part of the barley for which the brewer has direct use, 
and all that remains constitutes another by-product to be disposed 
of through the most available channels. This by-product is termed 
wet brewers' grains because, when first the sugar has been taken 
from them, they are heavily loaded with water. They contain less 
than 25 per cent of dry matter. 

At large breweries there are great volumes of wet brewers' 
grains, for the small percentage of the barley eliminated in the 
form of malt sprouts and soluble sugar leaves a large percentage of 
the original barley in the form of wet grains. 

In the wet form, brewers' grains are a most excellent food for 
the dairy cow. They are very palatable, succulent and stimulating 
to milk production. The analysis shows them to contain in addi- 
tion to 71 per cent of water, 1 per cent of ash, 4.6 per cent of protein, 
8.7 per cent of carbohydrates and 1.5 per cent of fat. Compared 
with silage, roots, pasture grasses or other succulent foods, brewers' 
grains rank much higher in analysis, which illustrates their value 
to feeders living close enough to the point of manufacture to haul a 
fresh supply of them daily. Because of their high content of mois- 
ture, they can neither be shipped long distances nor held long — 
unless ensiloed — '■ so that their use in the wet stage is for local con- 
sideration only. 

In many instances their use by dairymen selling city milk has 
been prohibited by city milk authorities. This, however, has not 
been the fault of the brewers' grains, but the fault of the users. 
Because of their cheapness, feeders are inclined to handle them care- 
lessly and over-feed them. As a result the milk produced becomes 
tainted, not from the grains that are eaten, but from the portion al- 
lowed to remain in the feed boxes, on the feeding floor and around 
the barn. Naturally, because of their wet nature, they ferment, be- 
come putrid, and the air in and about the barn becomes permeated 
with the objectionable odor, which is certain to find its way into 
the milk and render it unfit for human food. Care, such as should 
be practiced in any dairy barn where food, to be consumed in the 



Barley and Its By-Products 85 

raw state, is being prepared for infants as well as adults, will entirely 
eliminate this objection. 

In a western city a few years ago the use of wet brewers' grains 
as a food for cows producing milk for the city's supply was for a 
time prohibited because of the belief that children drinking the milk 
would develop the taste for alcoholic beverages. The fallacy of this 
action, however, becomes apparent when it is realized that brewers' 
grains are really more free from this objection than barley, for, in 
reality, they represent barley with that portion from which beer is 
made taken away. Therefore, this objection is worthy of no con- 
sideration, either on the part of the dairyman or his customer. 

Merely because wet brewers' grain can be purchased cheaply 
is no reason why they should be fed carelessly or why they should 
be wasted. In fact, because of their wet nature, they should be 
handled more carefully than dry foods ; and, because they are rich 
in feeding nutrients, they should be fed judiciously. A daily ration 
of one pound for each pound of milk yielded, up to 40 pounds, will 
furnish a sufficient amount of succulence, and, fed with 10 or 12 
pounds of hay and a grain mixture of ground corn and other carbo- 
naceous foods, this by-product will prove to be an advisable food, 
because it is a cheap and palatable source of succulence and protein 
well balanced with carbohydrates, fat and ash. To prove valuable, 
however, the rule of feeding an abundance of dry matter with it 
must be closely followed. 

Because of the great abundance of the supply of brewers' 
grains, they usually exceed the demand by large amounts. To find 
an outlet for them, they are kiln-dried, sacked and offered as dried 
brewers' grains. Their use is not fully appreciated by the American 
feeder and they are largely exported to be fed in Europe. Because 
of the large amount of nitrogen, phosphorus and potash they carry, 
this exporting process really amounts not only to the loss of an ex- 
cellent protein foodstuff, but permits the European feeder to draw 
from this country much of the richness of our barley-growing farms. 
This is one illustration of how the European farmer encourages his 
animals to produce more largely and how he increases the richness 
of his farm year after year; and, likewise, it is an illustration of 
how the American farmer overlooks his opportunities for encourag- 
ing large production and permits the fertility that should find its 
way to his farm, to be taken over the ocean to enrich a farm there. 

Plate No. 56 shows dried brewers' grains to contain a small 
amount of moisture. Because of this they will keep indefinitely 
under ordinary storage conditions. They are bulky and palatable, 
and prove helpful to a ration because of this. 



86 Feeding the Dairy Cow 

Plate No. 58 shows them to rank well with oats and bran in 
mineral matter and carbohydrates and to be more valuable for sup- 
plying protein and fat. More than this, the practical feeder agrees 
with the chemist. He finds that dried brewers' grains rank well 
with bran and are almost, if not quite, equal to ground oats in stim- 
ulating milk production and the health of the animal. 

If other succulence is available, brewers' grains should be fed 
dry, mixed with other concentrates; but, if no other succulence is 
present, they may be moistened. Their nature is such that they take 
up large quantities of water and form a most suitable, succulent, 
palatable, easily-digested food. Their use is advisable and depends 
upon their cost. Where they can be purchased as cheaply as bran, 
and from 8 to 10 per cent more cheaply than ground oats, they may 
well be considered as a part of the dairy cow's ration. 

A knowledge of feeds and of their feeding and fertilizing val- 
ues is of tremendous importance to every farmer. This subject 
should receive more consideration than it does. 



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' CHAPTER IX. 

distillers' dried grains 

Corn, oats, barley and rye are the grains most largely used in 
the manufacture of whisky and alcohol. Briefly, these grains are 
ground, softened with water and mashed. At the proper time malt 
is mixed with the mash, causing the starches of the grains to be 
changed to sugar. When this is accomplished, yeast is added and 
the sugar is converted into alcohol. Distilling follows and there 
remains a residue known as distillery slop. Because nothing has 
been removed from the grains except starch — which represents only 
a portion of the carbohydrates — a proportionately large amount of 
the raw material remains in the slop. 

As has been noted in the study of other by-products, the re- 
moval of a portion of one nutrient increases the other nutrients, 
and this is true with regard to the dry matter of distillery slop. 
By removing a large portion of the carbohydrates, there results an 
increased percentage of the indigestible material, protein, ash and 
fat. 

In the early history of distilling, the slop was a waste product. 
Later its feeding value for beef cattle was recognized and extensive 
feeding lots were installed at all distilleries, and up to now, thou- 
sands of steers are finished annually by employing little food other 
than the slop direct from the distillery. Furthermore, the dairyman 
who lives close enough to a distillery finds this slop an excellent 
food for stimulating milk production when fed judiciously with 
foods that supply the required amount of dry matter necessary for 
persistency of production. 

Having gained knowledge of the feeding value contained in the 
dry matter of the slop, and desiring to extend the demand for this 
by-product, many distillers have installed dryers for evaporating the 
moisture, and when this is done distillers' dried grains with less 
than 10 per cent of moisture are secured. When the moisture is 
thus reduced, the grains are sacked and it becomes possible to keep 
them indefinitely under ordinary storage conditions. 

The feeder of dairy cows has been quick to recognize the merits 
of distillers' dried grains and their use is very general among dairy- 
men. However, it should be remembered that a wide variation ex- 
ists in their value, according to the raw material from which they 
are made. 



88 Feeding the Dairy Cow 

In the manufacture of alcohol, corn is used almost entirely and 
the grains from this source are known to be of highest feeding value. 
When whisky is distilled, the grains rank in value according to the 
percentage of corn used, therefore, those grains resulting from the 
distilling of rye whisky are of the lowest feeding value because very 
little corn is used. 

With these facts in mind, the feeder is enabled to select dis- 
tillers' grains according to their feeding value, which, when por- 
trayed by guaranteed analysis, will show them to vary in content 
of protein from 33 per cent in the very best grade to 14 per cent 
in the very poorest. This feature is not objectionable to the buyer 
who purchases feeds with regard to their real feeding value because 
he pays for a feed in accordance with its analysis, and he varies the 
amount of each food when mixing rations according to the nature of 
the feeds available, and the needs of each cow. 

Distillers' dried grains are not palatable to cows. They have 
a peculiar, sour taste and smell which vary according to the length 
of time fermentation has been permitted to continue before the 
moisture is evaporated from the slop. This is not a serious objec- 
tion. Cows soon become accustomed to the taste and eat the grains 
with much relish. Then it is found that the sour taste has a ten- 
dency to sharpen the appetite, and the objectionable feature becomes 
a favorable factor. 

As shown by plate No. 59, these grains are very light and bulky, 
comparing favorably with bran in this respect. Because of this, they 
can be fed heavily with little danger of harming the animal, and it 
is for this reason that those who feed for large records use them 
very extensively in substitution for foods of a like feeding value 
that are less bulky. 

Compared with bran and various other bulky foods, it will be 
seen by plate No. 60 that distillers' dried grains are largely digesti- 
ble, there being in 100 pounds of the feed 74.4 pounds of digestible 
material. The large ash content is also a useful factor and the 16.4 
pounds of indigestible material being of a flaky, bulky nature adds 
to, rather than detracts from, the merits as a foodstuflf for ruminat- 
ing animals. 

In analysis, the grains, if of a superior quality, rank high in the 
scale of food values. This is especially true of the content of di- 
gestible protein and fat as illustrated in plate No. 61. Because of 
the large amount of digestible protein and fat, combined in a feed 
so bulky in character, only good results are to be expected where 
its use is employed in accordance with the demands of the cow. In 
the hands of the practical, experienced feeder, distillers' dried grains 



Distillers' Dried Grains 89 

have stood the test and meet with favor when they can be pur- 
chased at a price which warrants their use in comparison with other 
foods. 

At several experiment stations they have proved their worth. 
Armsby and Risser of Pennsylvania found from experiments that 
when five and one-half pounds of the grains were substituted for 
three pounds of cottonseed meal and tv^o and one-half pounds of 
corn meal a slight increase in milk flow resulted and the percentage 
of fat was increased. It is not usually believed possible to increase 
the percentage of fat in milk by the use of feed, yet in this instance, 
as in others, it occurred when distillers' dried grains were used. The 
explanation for this is that the increase in butterfat was a result of 
the high content of fat present in the grains. A latej experiment at 
the Vermont Experiment Station indicates like results, although the 
percentage of butterfat was not increased as largely as in the Penn- 
sylvania test. 

Although the ration consisting of corn meal and cottonseed 
meal was less expensive than the distillers' dried grains ration, the 
extra yield of milk and butterfat was sufficient to warrant the extra 
cost and render the distillers' dried grains ration superior for great- 
ness of production and practically equal from the standpoint of 
economy. 

That this foodstuff ranks well with protein feeds is a certainty, 
and, where it can be secured, its use is to be highly recommended. 
It is a fact that those mixed, commercial feeds the basis of which 
is distillers' dried grains are among the best on the market and, 
seemingly, the larger the percentage of distillers' grains used the 
better is the feed. 



CHAPTER X. 

COTTONSEED MEAL 

Not many years ago cotton seeds were considered valueless. 
They constituted a waste product to be disposed of at an expense 
or left in a pile at the gin to rot. When it became known that the 
seeds were a source of valuable oil mills sprang up all over the 
south and two extensive industries were born. Today the value of 
cotton seeds is such that they represent a large source of wealth to 
cotton-growing sections. 

Machinery *has been provided for removing the lint and the 
heavy hulls the seeds wear, thus releasing the kernels that contain 
the oil and the nutrients which represent the feeding value. These 
kernels are ground, heated, confined between cloths and subjected 
to sufficient pressure to squeeze out the oil. That which remains is 
cottonseed cake, and in this form much of it is exported to Europe. 
In fact, the European feeder appreciates the feeding value of this 
useful by-product more than does the American feeder, and, further- 
more, he demands the cake instead of the meal for he prefers to 
grind it himself rather than risk the possible infusion of adulter- 
ants which often gain access to the meal when others grind it. 

Now that the gasoline engine and the electric motor are be- 
coming so common on the American farm, the feeder of this country 
can well afford to consider purchasing his linseed and cottonseed 
feeds in cake form, installing a small grinder and reducing them to 
meal on his own farm. The advantages to be gained in so doing 
are as follows: First, the adding of adulterants is made impossible. 
Second, the cost of sacks and sacking is eliminated. Third, by grind- 
ing frequently, a fresher, more palatable food is provided and the 
liability of molding and spoiling is reduced to a minimum. Fourth, 
from $2 to $5 per ton can be saved on the purchase price by purchas- 
ing the cake rather than the meal, and a superior food is secured 
while the labor of grinding is small. 

Although the value of cottonseed meal is universally known in 
this country, it is not so largely used as it should be, else the 
hundreds of thousands of tons commonly exported to other coun- 
tries would be fed at home. 

Disregarding the feeding value of it for a moment and consid- 
ering its fertility value, a strong factor favoring its use becomes ap- 
parent. With nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus scarce and 
expensive, it must be considered by the American feeder that all 



Cottonseed Meal 91 

cottonseed meal shipped abroad takes from this country fertility 
which makes the farms of Europe richer and the farms of the United 
States poorer. 

As the knowledge of agriculture advances and the necessity of 
conserving the fertility of farms becomes more apparent, more cot- 
tonseed meal will be fed at home and less exported. If the feeder 
of Europe can afford to pay freight on cottonseed cake from the mill 
to seaboard and across the ocean, the farmer of this country can af- 
ford to feed it to dairy cows when the butter he produces sells at a 
price as high as, and in many instances higher than, is secured by 
the European dairyman. 

As a rule, cottonseed meal, if unadulterated with hulls, is one 
of the very cheapest sources of protein. It is very palatable, and 
cows eat it with more avidity than they do most by-products. Cot- 
tonseed cake cracked into pieces the size of a hazel-nut is even more 
palatable and less wasteful to feed. 

Cottonseed meal, being very concentrated in form, should be 
fed with foods that are more bulky in order to derive its greatest 
value. It is especially desirable to feed to cows on grass or those 
eating silage because it counteracts the over-laxative effects of 
these succulent feeds. When all other feeds used are dry, oil meal 
is preferable. 

When cottonseed meal first came into general use, serious re- 
sults became common. Steers eating it became blind and the hogs 
following them died. Udder trouble followed its use in the dairy- 
barn and calves to which it was fed died. Most of these troubles, 
however, were the direct result of the cheapness of the feed and the 
injudicious manner in which it was used. 

As a feed for small calves and hogs cottonseed meal is not to 
be advised, for, even though they may eat small quantities of it 
and live, they will thrive better on other rations. As a food for 
beef cattle cottonseed meal has proved one of the best when used 
at the rate of two or three pounds daily throughout a short feeding 
period. For dairy cows cottonseed meal finds its greatest value, 
and, although it is advisable to use it in a limited manner or at the 
rate of two or three pounds daily, it may be fed more heavily with- 
out serious effects to cows yielding largely. 

In any dairies where immediate economic milk production is the 
sole aim cottonseed meal mixed with silage and fed in conjunction 
with hay provides the entire ration, but this method is not to be ad- 
vised where best results over a period of years is sought. 

As shown by plate No. 63, cottonseed meal contains 6.2 pounds 
of ash in each 100 pounds, and because of this it is an excellent source 



92 



Feeding the Dairy Cow 




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Cottonseed Meal 93 

of mineral matter. Being largely digestible, as plate No. 63 also 
illustrates, there is very little waste ; but, on the other hand, the cow 
will not use it to best advantage unless mixed with other and more 
bulky foods. It is because of this fact that oftentimes, although 
analyses do not indicate the possibility, better results are secured 
from such foods as distillers' dried grains, dried beet pulp, and other 
foods lighter in character. 

The real value of cottonseed meal is portrayed by plate No. 64, 
but it is well to remember that only the choicest cottonseed meal 
contains so large an amount of digestible protein per hundredweight 
as 37 pounds or as much digestible fat as 8.6 pounds. It is because 
of this high content of protein and fat that the feeder, whose home- 
grown feeds are so largely carbonaceous, purchases cottonseed meal. 
Therefore, he should insist on securing only the choicest grade, or 
that which contains the smallest percentage of ground cottonseed 
hulls, which nowadays are often found in abundance in some meals. 

Cottonseed hulls rank lower in feeding value than straw, which 
fact proves conclusively the folly the feeder of the north pursues in 
paying freight on them mixed with otherwise pure cottonseed meal. 
In the south the hulls are useful, for they contain broken seeds, and, 
therefore, have a certain feeding value. Because they are carbon- 
aceous and bulky in character and because, when fed in limited 
amounts, they are palatable to the cow, their use is to be recom- 
mended much as is the use of straw, timothy hay and corn stover 
in the dairy of the corn belt. 

It is for the same reason that cold pressed cottonseed cake, al- 
though a valuable foodstuff, is worth less to ship north than the pure 
cottonseed meal or cottonseed cake. 

The cold pressed cake results from pressing oil from the entire 
cottonseed without heating or grinding, and, therefore, a large per- 
centage of the hulls remain in the resulting by-product. It is also 
true that a larger percentage of oil remains, causing the residue to 
contain a higher percentage of fat and carbohydrates but a lower 
per cent of protein. 

At the Louisiana Experiment Station it was found to be worth 
somewhat less as a food for dairy cows than a mixture of two parts 
meal and one part hulls. Reduced to the dollar basis, it was esti- 
mated that with cottonseed meal available at $30 per ton cold pressed 
cottonseed cake was worth $21.65 per ton. 

Fed judiciously, cottonseed meal of good quality is one of the 
most valuable of foods for cows, and on every farm where cows are 
milked some cottonseed meal should be used. It is a cheap source 
of protein in a form that is palatable to the cow and stimulating to 



94 Feeding the Dairy Cow 

milk production. Because of its high percentage of protein and its 
low percentage of carbohydrates, its use renders simple the task of 
balancing rations. For these reasons, it is used largely by manufac- 
turers of commercial mixed feeds. 

Many dairymen have herds so small that they hesitate to buy 
cottonseed meal and other feeds in carlots. In such instances, neigh- 
bors, or members of local associations, should co-operate in buying 
because, considering differences in carlot and local freight rates as 
well as wholesale prices, a great saving can be made. 



CHAPTER XT. 

ROOT CROPS 

Continuously we of the Western Hemisphere go to Europe for 
breeding animals. For some reason or other it seems that^ to keep 
our livestock up to a desired standard, it is necessary to infuse new 
blood from its natural source into the veins of our breeding stock. 

There are various reasons why this condition prevails, but the 
three most certain are that we do not combine blood lines with the 
same intelligence that the breeder of Europe does ; we do not care 
for our animals with the same methodical, sympathetic expertness 
of the English and Scotch ; and we do not feed in the same manner. 

Until the silo became so common very few animals in this coun- 
try received any succulent food from the time grass withered in the 
fall until it sprang forth in the spring, and then, as a rule, animals 
found themselves during a month of drouth every summer with only 
dry grass — and little of that — to nibble. Largely because they were 
kept on dry grain, usually carbonaceous in character, and hay, largely 
timothy, animals lost that sappy condition so characteristic of im- 
ported stock, and this, together with common care and careless mat- 
ing, made it necessary to renew the blood often, regardless of ex- 
pense. 

That roots are valuable for feeding purposes has never been a 
secret, and the old-country feeder, who came to America to serve a 
master who wished to excel in the dairy or show ring, insisted on a 
supply of beets or mangels with which to winter his charges and to 
condition them in the fall. That he was right in his belief that roots 
were useful was invariably proved when the results of the contest 
were announced. 

Even in this day, when silos are nearly as prevalent as corn- 
cribs and hay barns, the man who wins most successfully at our 
shows or takes the cow to the farthest goal of butter records is an 
ardent advocate of roots, and he uses them liberally. 

Just wherein lies their value the chemist has never been able to 
discover because, as plate No. 65 vividly shows, water is the chief in- 
gredient of the sugar beet as well as other roots. Why water found 
in roots is more valuable than that drank from a tank in the barn lot 
or a basin at the stall is not well known, yet it is conceded that root*? 
are more easily digested than dry feeds; they assist in the digestion 
of other foods by giving healthful tone to the digestive apparatus; 



96 Feeding the Dairy Cow 

they act as a tonic, thus saving veterinary bills; and they stimulate 
a vigorous appetite. 

These are points worthy of the careful, thoughtful, serious con- 
sideration of every feeder, breeder or dairyman, and, yet, an almost 
unsurmountable obstacle precludes the raising of them in a manner 
as extensively as they are raised in European countries. These lands 
are high in price and labor plentiful. Here lands are comparatively 
cheap and labor scarce. Try as we may, on the average farm, to 
raise root crops, the weeds take them. As the Scotchman said when 
he visited this country, ''The American quarreled years ago with the 
hoe, and the difference has never yet been adjusted." Roots cannot 
be successfully raised without the liberal use of the hoe employed at 
just the right time. 

Conditions are changing rapidly, however. Lands are increasing 
in value ; boys are becoming more inclined to remain on the farm ; 
there is under way a tendency for the crowded city to send her sur- 
plus to the country; grains, grasses and all foodstuffs are increasing 
in price, so it may not be long before the tiller of the soil of this 
country will renew friendship with the hoe and raise, on a part of his 
farm, roots that will yield a great tonnage of choicer feed than any 
other crop. 

If every cow in the United States were to receive one 20-pound 
feed of roots daily, from November to May each year, we would raise 
better cattle and produce better calves than we do under prevailing 
methods. This is true even where silage is fed, and doubly true where 
it is not. 

At the present time the great expense incurred in raising and 
harvesting root crops prohibits their use as compared with corn sil- 
age or dried beet pulp except for special purposes, such as fitting 
animals for show, or sale, for testing them for butterfat records or 
for substituting for grain rations. 

Prof. H. H. Wing, experimenting at Cornell University Experi- 
ment Station, drew the following conclusions after an extensive test 
conducted to determine the possibility of using roots instead of high- 
priced grains for feeding dairy cows : 

Less dry matter was required to produce one pound of butterfat 
when mangels were fed as a succulent food with a full grain ration 
than with any other combination. 

The average cost of one pound of butterfat under all conditions 
was 22.4c. 

The lowest price at which a pound of butterfat was produced 
was 20.7c, with ration! (hay, grain and silage). 



Root Crops 97 

The cost of one pound of butterfat with ration II (hay, grain 
and mangels) was 27.4c. This was considered too high to be eco- 
nomical. 

The cost of one pound of fat with ration III (hay, grain, man- 
gels and silage, grain ration reduced one-half by substituting man- 
gels) was 20.75c. Since the cost of one pound of fat in the check 
group averaged for the two years 20.6c, ration III was considered 
economical. 

One pound of dry matter in mangels is a little more than equal 
to one pound of dry matter in silage. One pound of dry matter in 
mangels is equal to one pound of dry matter in grain and mangels 
may replace one-half the ordinary grain ration with mixed hay and 
silage. 

Accepting the average price of commercial feeding stuffs at 
$30 per ton, and considering one pound of dry matter in mangels 
equal to one pound of dry matter in grain mangels may be used eco- 
nomically in the ration to replace one-half the grain ordinarily fed 
when they can be produced and stored ready for feeding at $4 per 
ton. In arriving at this conclusion, the average amount of dry mat- 
ter in grain is considered to be 90 per cent, and in mangels to be 12 
per cent. 

It would seem to be safe assumption that farmers can raise 
mangels for $4 per ton and thus reduce their feed bill very materially 
by the judicious use of mangels to replace one-half of the grain 
ordinarily fed in the rations. 

A possible explanation of the value of roots is suggested by plate 
No. 66, which shows the small amount of indigestible material con- 
tained in 100 pounds of sugar beets; but, again, plate No. 67 causes 
one to wonder at the possibility of roots being substituted for grain 
when there is contained in 100 pounds of sugar beets only 1.2 pounds 
of digestible protein, 12.8 pounds of carbohydrates and .1 of a pound 
of fat. 

In his bulletin Professor Wing quotes from experiments, made 
at the Ohio Experiment Station by Thorne, Hickman and Falken- 
bach, the following results, which show conclusively why, under 
present conditions, root crops are not more generally used, and why, 
for several years, they will be raised for special purposes only. 

The feeding of beets to milch cows increased the consumption 
of other foods and of total dry matter. 

Beets always increased the flow of milk and the total yield of 
butterfat, but this increase has never been sufficient to offset the ad- 
ditional consumption of food. 



98 



Feeding the Dairy Cow 





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Root Crops 99 

Cows fed on beets showed an increase in live weight, while 
those fed on silage remained about the same. 

Beets did not increase the amount of water drank, although fed 
in such quantities as to increase the water content of the food 30 
pounds per day. 

The experiments did not justify the assumption that the dry 
matter of beets is any more effective, pound for pound, than the dry 
matter of silage made from w^ell-matured corn containing 13 to 18 
per cent of grain. 

In the region where the tests were made, and at the average of 
10 years' culture of corn and field beets side by side, two pounds of 
dry matter was produced in the form of corn silage at a less cost than 
one pound of dry matter in the form of beets. 

A question was suggested by the experiments as to whether 
beets might not be used to advantage in comparatively small quan- 
tities, fed as appetizers. While silage made from comparatively ma- 
ture corn showed best results in general, the experiments suggested 
that the silage should be made before the corn has reached full 
maturity. 



CHAPTER XII. 



DRIED BEET PULP 



During the period intervening between 1878 and 1915 the 
amount of beet sugar produced in the United States annually grew 
from 100 tons to 413,954 tons. 

The people of the United States consume annually 77.54 pounds 
of sugar per capita, which is more than double the average amount 
consumed per capita in all Europe. In round numbers, 3,800,000 
tons of sugar are used in this country annually, while the combined 
production of cane and beet sugar is less than half that amount. That 
which is not produced at home must be imported, which, in the face 
of the success attained in various parts of the United States in pro- 
ducing both cane and beet sugar, seems just as ill advised as the ex- 
porting of valuable fertility-carrying foodstuffs which should be fed 
to farm animals at home. 

Where beet sugar factories are located and properly operated, 
farmers find the raising of beets very profitable, and learn that the 
wet beet pulp, which is a by-product of the sugar factory, is a most 
excellent, succulent, palatable food that is extremely stimulating to 
large and economical milk production. 

When the beets are pulled and topped the farmer hauls them to 
the factory, where they first pass through several water baths and 
are scrupulously cleansed. The next process is to pass them through 
a series of knives, which reduce them to long shreds no thicker than 
a common lead pencil. The shreds, or cosettes, as they are called, 
pass through a number of cylinders or cells in each of which they 
are treated with hot water, which washes out the sugar. When this 
process is completed, the sweet liquor is drawn oflP and the residue, 
or wet beet pulp, is expelled in large piles to be hauled to adjacent 
farms, fed at the factory during the winter to fattening steers, or pre- 
served in huge silos. 

Where factories are sufficiently prosperous, much of the surplus 
water is pressed from the mass and the remainder, except 8 or 9 per 
cent, is eliminated by kiln drying. 

Fortunate, indeed, is the dairyman who lives close enough to a 
sugar beet factory to be able to haul the wet pulp daily to his farm 
for feeding purposes. As a means of encouraging farmers to raise 
beets, many factories furnish the wet pulp in abundance free for the 
hauling; others charge a nominal fee of 50c per load. Because this 
wet pulp contains all the; nutrients of the sugar beet except the sugar, 



ii 




Carbohydrates. 



( 



Dried Beet Pulp 101 

its value approaches the value of the original beet, and the cost is so 
small that, where judgment is used in feeding, its use renders the 
cost of milk production small. 

Contrary to the general opinion, the pulp, even though piled 
carelessly in large piles, can be fed all year. It sours slightly but does 
not spoil, and, when it has fermented, cows eat it, seemingly, with 
more relish than when the pulp is fresh, and the results from the 
standpoint of milk production are equally favorable. 

As is usually the case when any feed is very cheap, wet beet pulp 
is liable to be overfed. The dairyman is encouraged to increase the 
amount from day to day as his cows become accustomed to it, be- 
cause they like it better than any other feed, and with each increase 
there comes an increase in milk flow. If given all the wet pulp they 
will eat, cows care little for hay and grain and apparently do not eat 
enough dry matter to protect their bodies and provide for the unborn 
calf. As a result, the calf when born very often is in a weak, emaci- 
ated condition, predisposed to scours, and often does not live. This 
is not the fault of the beet pulp but is due to injudicious use of it. 
To secure the best results, the feeder should watch closely the daily 
ration of each cow, from which he would raise a strong, vigorous 
calf, and make certain that she eats a sufficient amount of hay and 
grain to protect her own body and that of her unborn offspring from 
emaciation. 

Accurate results secured from the use of the wet beet pulp for 
feeding dairy cows at the Cornell University Experiment Station are 
as follows : 

The cows, as a rule, ate beet pulp readily and consumed from 50 
to 100 pounds per day, according to size, in addition to the usual feed 
of eight pounds of grain and six to 12 pounds of hay. 

The dry matter in beet pulp proved to be of equal value, pound 
for pound, with the dry matter in corn silage. 

The milk-producing value of beet pulp as it comes from the beet 
sugar factory is about one-half that of corn silage. 

Beet pulp is especially valuable as a succulent food, and, where 
no other such food is obtainable, it may prove of greater comparative 
value than is given above. 

Excellent as is the wet pulp for feeding purposes, dried beet 
pulp is better. It is more convenient to feed, can be mixed with other 
rations — either dry or m( listened — and is not so liable to be overfed. 

In the sugar factory when the sweet liquor is withdrawn the 
beet shreds pass directly to the drying kiln before any fermentation 
has taken place, and within one hour the moisture has been reduced 
to a minimum and a palatable, bulky, easily digested food is sacked 
preparatory to storage and shipment. 



102 Feeding the Dairy Cow 

It is interesting to compare the accompanying plates with those 
illustrating the feeding value of sugar beets and note the great change 
in the bulk, moisture and content of nutrients occasioned by ex- 
tracting the sugar a.nd water fi'om the original beets. Plate No. 68 
shows vividly the increase in bulk and dry matter at the expense of 
the moisture contained in the sugar beet. By taking away the water 
and sugar, plate No. 69 shows the enlarged amount of indigestible 
material and ash, and, by comparing plate No. 70 with plate No. 67 
it will be readily noted how the protein and carbohydrates have been 
increased and the trace of fat present in sugar beets has been en- 
tirely eliminated by the process. 

Dried beet pulp is especially palatable to cows, and, being bulky, 
it proves an excellent addition to almost any ration. Practical feed- 
ers find that, like roots of various sorts, it proves more valuable than 
the chemical analysis would indicate. This is, no doubt, due to the 
fact that the original value of the sugar beet is retained, and, there- 
fore, the belief is encouraged that the American feeder can secure 
equally good results by using this useful dried beet pulp as the 
European feeder secures from raising and feeding beets and man- 
gels. 

When silage or other succulent food is available in abundance 
dried beet pulp can be fed without moistening at the rate of from 
three to five pounds daily. 

One of the readers of Kimball's Dairy Farmer has advised us 
that, because of the poor quality of hay at his command, he is sub- 
stituting five pounds of dried beet pulp for seven and one-half pounds 
of hay and securing excellent results. 

One of the great values of dried beet pulp is that of furnishing 
succulence to a ration in the absence of other watery foods. When 
used in this manner, it serves a double purpose — that of supplying 
food nutrients and adding succulence. Exhibitors of show cattle find 
it a most serviceable feed because they can carry it with them and 
soak it with water whenever succulent food is needed, and thereby 
avoid the inconvenience of locating roots or silage at each of the 
fairs at which they exhibit. 

At the New Jersey Experiment Station it was found that with 
corn silage valued at $4 per ton and dried beet pulp at $20 per ton 
milk could be produced 3.31 per cent cheaper and butter for 3.48 per 
cent less by using silage instead of the pulp. This suggests that it 
may be better to use dried beet pulp in conjunction with silage 
rather than substituted for it. As a further proof of this, it was found 
that when molasSes beet pulp cost $20 per ton the dried beet pulp 
substituted for it in the grain ration produced milk at a saving of 
3.09 per cent and butter at a saving of 4.7 per cent, showing dried 



Dried Beet Pulp 103 

beet pulp to be superior to the molasses beet pulp. But, when mo- 
lasses beet pulp was substituted for hominy feed at $23 per ton, 
which feed is equal to corn meal in feeding value, it was found that 
milk was produced for 6.02 per cent less cost and butter at a saving 
of 6.3 per cent. This would indicate that dried beet pulp is a much 
more economical feed than hominy feed when the comparative prices 
are in the ratio of $20 per ton for the former and $23 per ton for the 
latter. 

Valuable as is hominy feed on every dairy farm, it is especially 
valuable Avhere the aim is to make large milk and butter records and 
in those sections where protein feeds are plentiful and either succu- 
lent foods or those rich in carbohydrates are scarce. 



CHAPTER XIII. 



MIXED FEEDS 



Classed with foods known as concentrates are various mixed 
feeds, many of which are proving so satisfactory in general use that 
they have become as staple as grains and even more staple than many 
of the by-product feeds. 

Much prejudice has in the past centered about mixed feeds. Ex- 
periment stations and writers have been slow to recommend the use 
of these commercial mixtures. The one real, well-defined reason for 
this is because many of those who manufactured such feeds in former 
years either lacked the knowledge necessary to compound a feed that 
was at once economical and useful, or their consideration was given 
more largely to making quick profits for themselves rather than sure 
profits for those who purchased their feeds. 

Waste products of various sorts, such as ground corn cobs, 
weed seeds, oat hulls, cottonseed hulls, etc., were used as fillers and 
as such constituted a large percentage of the mixture. 

With the. filler was mixed certain percentages of feeds useful in 
feeding value and of a palatable nature, so the final food would be 
readily eaten. Extravagant claims were made for such feeds, and, 
even though large prices were exacted for them, extensive sales were 
made. 

The more useless the mixture the louder its supposed virtues 
were heralded and the larger its sales in many vicinities. Further- 
more, there seemed to be the unscrupulous in every community who 
were capable of selling the unsuspecting feeder a ration compounded 
by a certain secret process from mysterious roots, herbs, grains, etc., 
which, without a doubt — although necessarily it was quite expensive 
— would do wonderful things for him who would believe and through 
faith buy a ton or a carload and feed it to his animals. It was good 
for all classes of animals but best for the kind of which the farmer 
had the greatest number. 

Quite naturally there were hundreds of disappointed feeders. 
The silver-tongued salesman could convince them of the merits of his 
feed, but the farm animals were traitors. They would not bear evi- 
dence favorable to his' claims. 

Those manufacturers who were sincere in their efforts to furnish 
an efficient mixed feed suffered, because the same honesty that im- 
pelled them to put value into their products prohibited them from 



Mixed Feeds 105 

making dishonest claims of the results the feeder might expect. A 
peculiar condition existed. 

Experiment station chemists began analyzing these various feeds 
and exposing the true composition of them. But, as rapidly as one 
feed was thus disposed of another sprang up to take its place. Finally 
a general distrust in mixed feeds became prevalent and the honest 
manufacturer was compelled to suffer with and because of the un- 
scrupulous competitor. 

To cope with the situation and protect both feeder and honest 
mixed feed manufacturer laws were passed in various states which 
made it compulsory that every sack of feed, other than the natural 
grains, be branded with the true analysis of its contents. Most states 
have, through their pure food departments, enforced these laws in a 
most commendable manner, so that feeds are no longer purchased 
on a basis of some peculiar, mysterious effect they will have upon 
the animals to which they are fed. They are sold on the basis of the 
actual food nutrients and crude fibre contained in them. Because of 
this the feeder whose knowledge leads him to buy protein, carbo- 
hydrates, fat and mineral matter in a form at once palatable, easily 
digested and reasonable in price is in a position to use his own judg- 
ment and make as wise a selection of food as anyone. 

So strict have the feed laws been that very often it Is now true 
that commercial feeds really contain a higher percentage of protein 
and a lower percentage of crude fibre than their guaranteed analysis 
shows. There is naturally a very wide variation in feeding values 
of one and the same food. This is even more true of grains and hays 
than it is of by-product foods and mixed feeds. 

When first harvested, because of the large amount of water 
present, the percentage of dry matter and the feeding nutrients are 
comparatively low. As feed dries, these nutrients increase in direct 
ratio to the decrease in moisture content. 

Again, a sack of ground feed may analyze uniformly the same 
from top to bottom when it leaves the mill, but, through handling in 
transportation, the heavier parts may settle to the bottom, causing 
a much different analysis for one part of the sack than the other 
parts when it finally reaches the feeder. This is even more true of 
carloads of feed when shipped in bulk. 

Furthermore, to analyze every ton of feed leaving the numerous 
large mills of this country would involve a great expense and the 
services of an army of chemists. To simplify the process, millers 
and manufacturers are inclined to employ a factor of safety and 
label the feed they offer for sale with a guaranteed analysis low 
enough so it will be sure to pass inspection favorably. In other words, 
feed dealers are now compelled by law to underestimate the value of 



106 Feeding the Dairy Cow 

their feed, if they would be safe, rather than attach to them the ex- 
travagant claims which formerly were so customary. This is the 
convenient thing for the manufacturer of by-productS to do. 

Bran, linseed meal, cottonseed meal, etc., have become well- 
known, staple products. During the milling season the average 
analysis is obtained from time to time, and sacks are labeled accord- 
ing to the variation which exists. But the manufacturer of mixed 
feed has found that a certain analysis secures the best results, and he 
realizes that satisfied customers are his best advertisements. He 
realizes that to succeed he must maintain a uniform quality and com- 
position in his feed. He uses the various by-products as well as 
ground grains in his process of manufacture. 

To uphold the standard he has set for his feed it is necessary for 
him to analyze, not only every carload of foodstuffs he buys, but, 
because of the variations of analyses in one and the same car, he 
must take samples from various parts and determine the exact feed- 
ing value of each. The results thus secured by his chemists tell him 
how to mix the feed — what proportion of each to use to insure that, 
when finally his special brand of feed is made, it will be up to its 
usual standard. This is one great advantage the mixed feeds of to- 
day have over all other feeds. If a commercially mixed food is good 
at all, it is uniform in quality at all times and can be. depended upon. 

Under present conditions it is the business of the manufacturer 
of mixed feed to mix the very best feed possible in the most econom- 
ical manner. He makes it his business to contract for the purchase 
of the constituent parts of his feed when these can be bought cheap- 
est; and, instead of buying in 100-pound lots, ton lots, or even car- 
load lots, he buys by the trainload, thereby availing himself of the 
most reasonable prices. Very often, because of this, the feeder is 
enabled to secure in certain mixed feeds a ration that is always uni- 
form in character, containing exactly the essentials for large produc- 
tion, more cheaply than he can secure the same nutrients from other 
sources. 

The present day manufacturer of mixed feeds is, as a rule, a 
close student of feeding problems. He has a keen knowledge of food 
values, the analysis of foods, their digestibility, and the physical char- 
acter of each. With the assistance of his chemists, he is enabled to 
mix a more uniformly well balanced feed than is the farmer. Being 
so extensive a purchaser, he is enabled to secure more cheaply the 
various grains and by-products that constitute his feed than the local 
feed dealer who purchases only in carlots as the demand asserts 
itself. With his machinery he can mix feed cheaper and more thor- 
oughly than it can be done on the farm with a scoop shovel. 



Mixed Feeds 107 

These are a few of the factors that make it possible for the whole- 
sale feed-mixer to be a true friend of the feeder, and rapidly his 
services are being appreciated even by the extensive feeder who 
purchases in carload lots. 

Of greater service still is this manufacturer to the small feeder. 
Variety is one of the chief essentials of a successful ration. To buy 
to the best advantage necessitates buying in carlots. This not only 
secures a wholesale rate but makes a saving in freight rates. The 
feeder who can use only . one carload of feed at a time must buy 
small amounts of various feeds at relatively higher prices if he 
would mix these himself. One carload of mixed feed properly se- 
lected, on the other hand, furnishes a variety of food, as well as the 
nutrients he desires. To such a feeder the knowledge, efficiency 
and services of a wholesale mixer are most valuable. 

Because it is to the advantage of the manufacturer of mixed 
feeds, he considers the needs of his customers. In some sections an 
abundance of carbonaceous feeds are raised on farms, while in other 
sections protein foods are grown almost to the exclusion of carbo- 
hydrate foods. Therefore, according to the locality in which the 
feed is offered for sale, manufacturers mix foods rich in protein or 
in carbohydrates so that they can be used to the best advantage for 
balancing farm-grown grains and roughages. 

Surely there are many economic reasons why the wholesale 
mixer of feeds should be able to co-operate with the feeder to the 
advantage of each other. In thousands of instances this is being 
accomplished. In other instances conditions are yet such that the 
feeder is warranted in mixing his own feed, because he possesses a 
knowledge that enables him to do so efficiently, and because he is 
so located that he can purchase the parts of a ration and mix them 
himself more cheaply thari he can buy them ready mixed. 

With these facts in mind the feeder will do well to lay aside 
prejudices, study the conditions on his own farm and determine in 
a systematic manner just what it is necessary for him to secure to 
perfect the ration he would feed his cows. When he knows and 
realizes definitely what he needs he is in a position to make selec- 
tion intelligently. He can then go on the market, either personally 
or through correspondence, and determine a most advantageous 
source of supply. 

If, after investigation, he finds it is more economical for him 
to secure the feeding nutrients his home-grown feeds lack by pur- 
chasing b^-product feeds and mixing them himself, it is to his ad- 
vantage to do so. On the other hand, if he finds that his needs can 
best be supplied by one or more of the commercially mixed foods 
and that by their use he can make a saving in the cost of his ration 



108 Feeding the Dairy Cow 

as well as a saving in the labor required for mixing feed on the 
farm, then certainly it is to his advantage to use the mixed feed 
which he will nowadays find up to the standard of guaranteed an> 
alysis and uniform in composition. 

There are so many mixed feeds on the market, most of them 
using as a basis the grains and by-products which have already 
been discussed, it is almost, if not quite impossible for us to deal 
with them individually as we have with the grains and by-products. 
The knowledge possessed, however, of the feeds that have been con- 
sidered in detail will enable the feeder to determine by comparison 
the value of any one of the various mixed feeds. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

SILAGE 

Practical experience and scientific experiments have demon- 
strated conclusively to the student of feeding problems and to the 
feeder of livestock that succulence is essential in the ration. True 
as this is in the feeding of all classes of livestock, it is especially 
true with regard to feeding dairy cattle. This is one point about 
which doubt no longer exists. And, many years before it became a 
settled fact in this country, it was well known and universally rec- 
ognized by the farmers of Europe. 

Had the method of furnishing succulence in the older countries 
been by the use of the silo, this useful structure would have come 
more rapidly into general use here because the feeder has long rec- 
ognized the expertness of the European livestock breeder and feeder 
and realized that succulent foods have been a great aid to them. 

To supply succulence by the use of root crops, however, has 
not been altogether practical in this country because farming con- 
ditions are vastly different from those in Europe, where lands are 
high-priced^ labor plentiful and cheap and where corn is not so gen- 
erally grown. To furnish sacculence for rations, the European live- 
stock man raises roots and feeds them abundantly. This is one of 
-the chief factors that has enabled him to develop all breeds of live- 
stock to such a high plane of perfection that the breeder of American 
livestock is compelled to bring across the ocean regular importa- 
tions of fresh blood with which to improve the American animal. 

So long as experience pointed to root crops as the sole source 
of succulence, winter rations in the northern part of the United 
States lacked entirely in this essential respect. Where lands are 
cheap and farming operations extensive, labor scarce and high- 
priced, such intensive agriculture as is necessary to grow root crops 
successfully is not favored. Therefore, in his efforts to develop 
livestock, the American breeder was greatly handicapped because, 
without some succulent food available for all the year, complete suc- 
cess cannot be obtained. 

Only 39 years ago the silo was introduced into this country 
from France, where, in 1875, Auguste Goffart announced the success- 
ful results he had secured from experiments, covering several years, 
with preserving forage. The discovery was of so great import that 
the French government awarded him the Cross of the Legion of 
Honor. 



110 Feeding the Dairy Cow 

After the silo was introduced into this country, it gradually be- 
came known that green corn could be preserved in a wholesale man- 
ner and provide succulence. All sorts of objections were lodged 
against its use. Condensors refused to buy milk from farms where 
silage was fed. Alany doctors prescribed against the use of milk 
produced by silage-fed cows for babies and invalids. Farmers be- 
lieved the acid in the silage w^ould eat out the linings of the stom- 
achs and intestines of their cows and make their teeth fall out. Some 
there were who thought it would cause tuberculosis, and others 
could not believe that green feed, put in any structure, could possi- 
bly fail to spoil. 

All of these prejudices, along with others, had to be overcome 
and proved false so that a general use of the silo did not begin until 
12 or 15 years ago. Since that time the silo has so demonstrated its 
value that it has become as prevalent as tlie haymow or the corn- 
crib, with the result that today dairy cows in this country are yield- 
ing amounts of milk and butterfat greater than they are anywhere 
else in the world. 

As is" illustrated by plate No. 71, in comparison with plate No. 
65, corn silage contains nearly twice as much dry matter as does 
the sugar beet. This is a point in favor of silage because it indi- 
cates greater feeding value than is to be found in roots, and the 
small amount of succulence replaced by dry matter is not sufficient 
to detract greatly from the factor of succulence,* because in 100 
pounds of mature silage there is found 7Z.7 pounds of moisture as 
compared with 83.6 pounds in sugar beets. 

It is also interesting to compare plates No. 66 and No. 72. This 
comparison denotes clearly the advantage root crops have over 
silage. There are only 1.4 pounds of indigestible material in 100 
pounds of sugar beets, while in 100 pounds of corn silage 7.8 pounds 
of indigestible rnaterial are found by chemical analysis. But, to 
offset this, there is nearly twice as much ash or mineral matter found 
in silage and the total digestible material is more than one-third 
greater, showing that, although corn silage is not so highly digesti- 
ble as are roots, the combined digestible feeding value is greater. 

By comparing plates No. 67 and No. 72), it is likewise found that 
corn silage is considerably more valuable than root crops in supply- 
ing digestible protein, carbohydrates and fat, the real feeding nutri- 
ents. Therefore, from the standpoint of chemical analysis alone, 
the feeder is justified in considering cprn silage superior to sugar 
beets as a feed for dairy cows. 

In physical character silage is more bulky than root crops, and 
this is another point much in its favor that should not be overlooked. 
This is one distinct improvement the use of corn silage has added 




,.„ 



Kliv 





ndi mature corn silage- 


100 pounds mature corn silage- 


100 Dounds mature corn 


volume, 15x15x29 5 inches 


exact volume, 15x15x29.5 inches. 


exact volume, 15x15x29.5 i 


vater, 73 7 pounds, figure 2, dr 


Figure 1, water, 73.7 pounds; figure 2, 


Figure 1, water, 73.7 pound 


natter, 26 3 pounds 


indigestible material, 7.8 pounds; figure 3, 


indigestible material, 7.8 pound 




ash, 1.7 pounds; figure 4, digestible mate- 


ash, 1.7 pounds; figure 4, protein 




rial. 16.8 pounds. 


figure 5, carbohydrates, 15. po 




Roughage feeds being of a more bulky 


6, fat, .7 pounds. 
















volume occupied by 100 pound, %i feed. In 






considering the concentrated feed a recepta- 






cle 12 inches square was used with height 






varying according to the bulkiness of the 


















pounds of roughages so that the length of the 


















is^iSsmd°!„'jfcs"pLtr^;^ri"a':^ 










parison is made with water, the exact weight 






of which is definitely known. The 26.8 






pounds of dry matter in 100 pounds of silage 





Silage 111 

to the system of feeding cows. It is now customary on most dairy 
farms to feed grain mixed with the silage, and by so doing the entire 
ration is rendered bulky and succulent to the extent that it digests 
more readily and ef^ciently than though the concentrated foods 
were fed alone. 

The advantage of this system is well illustrated by an experi- 
ment conducted at the agricultural experiment station of Illinois, 
where one lot of steer calves was fed rations consisting of corn sil- 
age, oats and hay, and another lot shock corn, oats and hay. The 
average number of pounds meat made per acre when silage was fed 
with oats and hay was 385.35 ; when shock corn was fed with oats 
and hay, the average number of pounds of meat made per acre was 
337.91 — a difference of 47.5 pounds per acre in favor of a system of 
silage feeding. 

Pigs were permitted to follow both lots of calves. Where the 
steers were fed silage, 97.69 per cent of the meat produced was beef 
and 2.31 per cent was pork. Where the shock corn was fed, 84.22 per 
cent of the meat produced was beef and 15.78 per cent was pork. 

It is clearly shown by this test that, where silage was fed a 
much larger percentage of the feed was digested by the steers, for 
the pigs following this lot of calves made a much smaller gain than 
those following the steers fed shock corn. This is of special im- 
portance to the feeder of dairy cows, because he cannot employ the 
service of pigs to save undigested portions of the feed excreted by 
the cow in the same manner as is possible for the feeder of beef cat- 
tle ; and, even though he could, it is more advisable for him to so 
prepare the feed of the cow that she can digest the largest possible 
percentage of it, because her services are more valuable for produc- 
ing milk and butterfat than for preparing feed for pigs. 

In addition to being a most excellent source of succulence and 
bulk, corn silage has proved from practical experience to be one of 
the most efficient foods for stimulating large and economical milk 
and butterfat production. The excellent results secured by the prac- 
tical feeder have been warranted by all experiments that have been 
performed for determining the real food value of silage. C. G. 
Williams, at the Ohio station, conducted an experiment to deter- 
mine the value of silage 3s a substitute for a portion of grain ration 
fed to dairy cows. One lot of cows was fed an average daily ration 
of 58 pounds of silage, 6.8 pounds of mixed hay; 2 pounds oil meal 
and 2 pounds of bran. Another lot was fed 4.7 pounds of corn 
stover, 6.4 pounds of mixed hay, 2.5 pounds of oil meal, 5 pounds of 
corn meal and 6 pounds of bran. Both lots received from their ra- 
tions practically the same total amount of dry matter, protein, car- 
bohydrates and fat. The silage used in the test was a mixture of 



112 Feeding the Dairy Cow 

one ton of soy beans and cowpeas to two and one-half tons of silage 
corn. There were nearly twice as many soy beans in the mixture 
as cowpeas. 

In one ration over 50 per cent of the dry matter was derived 
from silage and less than 18 per cent was derived from grain. In 
the other ration, 5? per cent of the dry matter was derived from 
grain, no silage being fed. Ten cows representing five different 
breeds were fed this ration from two to four months, five cows tak- 
ing the test the full four months. 

The cows fed the silage ration produced 96.7 pounds of milk and 

5.08 pounds of butterfat per 100 pounds of dry matter. 

The cows fed the grain ration produced 81.3 pounds of milk and 

3.9 pounds of butterfat per 100 pounds of dry matter. 

The cost of feed per 100 pounds of milk was 68.7c with the 
silage ration and $1,055 with the grain ration. The cost of feed per 
pound of butterfat was 13.1c with the silage ration and 22.1c with 
the grain ration. 

The average net profit per cow per month (over cost of feed) 
was $5,864 .with the silage ration and $2,465 with the grain ration. 

It was also noted, by averaging the daily production of the 
cows for the time they were on test and comparing this with their 
average daily production for the month previous to the beginning 
of the experiment, that the silage-fed cows shrank only 2.84 per cent 
in milk and increased 1.89 per cent in butterfat production. The 
grain-fed cows shrank 9.11 per cent in milk and 14.18 per cent in 
butterfat production. 

Commenting on the results of the experiment, Williams con- 
cludes : 

"The facts herein reported seem to justify the conclusion that 
silage can be made to take the place of a considerable portion of the 
grain ration. It is believed that by growing more of the feeds rich 
in protein — clover, alfalfa, soy beans, cowpeas, field peas, vetches— 
and ensiloing them or feeding them as hay, it will be possible to 
further reduce the amount of grain fed." 

Silage can not be used as a sole ration. It is so bulky and con- 
tains so much moisture and so small a percentage of protein that to 
attempt securing profitable milk production from it, without supple- 
menting it with leguminous hays and concentrated feeds, would be 
unreasonable; and practical experience indicates that it is impos- 
sible to secure satisfactory results from silage alone. Used, how- 
ever, as a source of bulk, succulence and carbohydrates, in conjunc- 
tion with foods that furnish protein and dry matter, no feed is su- 
perior to it. 



Silage 113 

There is a general belief that, even though silage is fed in 
abundance, greater production can be stimulated by adding roots to 
the ration. This method is largely practiced by feeders who are 
striving to make large records with cows, the cost of milk produc- 
tion being of secondary importance. There is no doubt that root 
crops used in this manner serve to increase the yield of milk and 
thereby the production of butterfat. Not only are additional food 
nutrients, succulence, palatability and variety added to the ration, 
but it must be conceded that roots have a very beneficial effect 
upon the general health and digestive capacity of the cow. When 
a cow is being worked to the limit of her ability, any food that will 
serve these joint purposes is advisable to use. But under ordinary 
conditions, where profit from milk production is even a more im- 
portant factor than extreme greatness of yield, the addition of roots 
to the ration enough increase the production with suflicient profit 
to pay for the roots and the extra labor of feeding them. This illus- 
trates in a forceful way the value of silage as a source of succulence. 

There are instances when, for economical results, silage can be 
over fed. This condition seldom, if ever, prevails in the corn belt, 
as the stalks and leaves of the plant would be largely wasted if not 
made into silage, and where legummous hays are, as a rule, scarce 
and expensive. But, in those sections where clover, alfalfa, soy 
beans, cowpeas, vetches or field peas are raised so abundantly and 
corn is raised with difficulty and at great expense, feeding nutrients 
can be secured more cheaply from the leguminous hays than from 
silage. Under such conditions economy calls for corn silage to be 
used in limited amounts for supplying succulence, bulk, variety 
and palatability. For these purposes, 10, 15 or 20 pounds of silage 
daily will serve the purposes for which it is best adapted, leaving 
the cow to secure the remaining nutriment needed for her main- 
tenance and milk production from cheap protein hays supplemented 
with grain feeds. This indicates that the economy of a food depends 
not only upon its value and cost, but also upon the value and cost 
of other foods available for use either in substitution of or to be fed 
with the food in question. 

An objection lodged against silage is that it contains so much 
acid it is harmful to the animals eating it regularly. There is no 
foundation for this opinion. Experience with silage has now ex- 
isted over a sufficient period of years so that many very old cows 
can be found that have eaten silage regularly since calfhood with- 
out any serious effects. Contrary to the theoretical idea, the con- 
sensus of evidence points to the fact that healthfulness has been in- 
creased by the silage. 



114 Feeding the Dairy Cow 

Commenting upon this subject, Esten and Mason, of the Storrs 
Agricultural Experiment Station of Connecticut, after an extensive 
investigation of silage fermentation, report : "The amount of acid 
consumed by the cow is quite startling. Suppose a cow is fed 40 
pounds of silage in a day. In this silage there is about 10 ounces of 
pure acid which would be ecjuivalent to the cow drinking seven 
quarts of vinegar a day. The equivalent for a man would be three 
pints of vinegar a day. These amounts of vinegar would certainly 
be damaging in either case. But since acetic acid is much less in 
amount than a favorable lactic acid, its presence does not seem to 
be harmful. The lactic acid is very beneficial as an appetizer and as 
a tonic to digestion. It also inhibits the growth of the undesirable 
bacteria in the elementary canal, alleged to prevent in man that 
serious disorder, auto-intoxication, which is the forerunner of a 
whole train of ailments attacking the animal organisms such as cold, 
headache, rheumatism, gout, and so forth." 

It has also been quite conclusively proven that silage, judi- 
ciously fed, does not affect adversely the milk produced. Condensdrs 
that formerly refused milk from farms where silage was fed now 
advocate the use of silos. It is true that where cows are overfed 
on silage, and uneaten portions are permitted to remain in the feed 
boxes and about the barn to putrefy, unfavorable odors are gener- 
ated which permeate the air. Where such a condition exists, milk 
absorbs these odors and becomes undesirable. This is not a fault 
of the silage, however, but a fault of the system employed in its 
use and reflects discredit upon the dairyman rather than upon the 
silage. 

To determine the actual effects of silage upon the flavor of milk, 
several experiments have been performed. At the Oregon Exper- 
iment Station A. L. Knisely found that cows fed on silage produced 
milk with a different odor from that produced by cows fed on hay. 
although the odor was in no way disagreeable. 

At the Wisconsin station King found that when silage was fed a 
short time before milking a sweetish odor was imparted to the milk. 
but when fed just after milking the fact that silage had been fed 
could not be detected even by experts. 

At the Illinois Experiment Station, Professor Eraser divided 
the college dairy herd into two lots. To one of these lots 40 pounds 
of corn silage was fed daily to each cow and the other lot was fed 
only clover, hay and grain. The milk from both lots was handled 
in exactly the same manner, and samples from each lot were sub- 
mitted to 372 persons for a|i opinion as to its comparative flavor and 
for determination of any objectionable taste or odor that might be 
present. As a result 60 per cent of those making the trial were in 



Silage 115 

favor of the siiage milk, 25 per cent in favor of that produced from 
hay and grain, while 11 per cent of those making the examination 
could detect no difference on which to base a choice. The peculiar- 
ity of this experiment was that the percentage in f^vor of the silage 
milk was much higher when the silage was fed at the time of milk- 
ing than when it was fed an hour before or an hour after milking. 

On this subject, Professor Plumb, of the Ohio State University, 
comments as follows : 

"It is now generally recognized that, with the modern methods 
of using silage and the proper precautions to prevent the milk after 
it has been drawn from the cow being tainted with the objectionable 
odor of badly fermented silage, the material may be freely used 
without danger of injury to the quality of dairy products." 

There is a widespread prejudice against feeding silage to herd 
bulls and young calves. It is based on the belief that silage fed to 
bulls interferes with their fecundity and when fed to calves causes 
scours. While overfeeding- likely substantiates the belief a moderate 
use of silage is advisable for furnishing succulence to the rations of 
both of these classes of animals. It should be used, however, as a source 
of succulence rather than of food nutrients, and 15 or 20 pounds 
daily should be the maximum amount given the herd sire. Young- 
calves should receive only small amounts fed with their grain ra- 
tions to the extent of giving bulk and adding succulence. Where 
fed thus judiciously no ill results will follow, and the health of the 
animals will be bettered rather than injured. 

As an economic factor the silo is of especial value. The stalk 
and leaves of the corn plant represent 40 per cent of the feeding 
nutriments. Where the silo is used they are completely saved : 
otherwise they are left in the field, some to be cut and shocked for 
feeding purposes, but mostly to be left standing for pasturing, for 
the nutrients to be washed away by the rains, for many of the leaves 
to be blown away and for the stalks to be cut, burned or plowed 
under in the spring. 

With the annual production of ears valued in round numbers 
at $2,673,000,000, without silos there would annually be wasted a 
large percentage of the corn stalks and leaves, the nutriment value 
of which equals more than $1,500,000,000. Oftentimes — in years 
gone by — while this great wealth of valuable food Avas locked up 
in snow-bound fields, good cattle without available food starved in 
barns, sheds and yards and their owners were compelled to send 
them to market to prevent complete loss. No greater extravagance 



116 Feeding the Dairy Cow 

was ever practiced by intelligent, thoughtful people in times of 
peaceful occupation. 

When it is conceded that silage is essential to successful feed- 
ing operations in winter, then it must be admitted that in most sec- 
tions the summer silo is quite as important as is the winter silo. 
Hardly a summer passes that a severe drouth is not experienced. 
Pastures dry up and grasses fail to grow. It is not customary on 
a large percentage of farms to feed cows when they are on pasture 
and the consequence is that, suffering from heat and flies, they fail 
to secure the food necessary for maintaining their bodies and per- 
sistently producing the amount of milk to which they are accus- 
tomed. The milk flow declines, cows become poor and emaciated 
and profits in the dairy are turned to losses. When this condition 
obtains, even though rains may come to revive the pasture and 
cows may retain their former condition of strength and flesh, they 
do not return to their previous flow of milk. They may increase 
slightly, but never — until they freshen again — will they produce as 
largely as before they declined in milk flow on account of food 
shortage. 

Thoughtful dairymen in all sections of the country now realize 
that in order to maintain large and steady milk flow they must pro- 
vide against summer drouths. It is true that this can be done by 
summer soiling or raising of green feeds with which to supplement 
pastures. In the absence of the silo this method is advisable. 

Commenting on the value of soiling crops and silage for dairy 
cows in summer, Woll, Humphrey and Oosterhius of Wisconsin, 
write as follows: 

"That corn silage can be used to greater advantage than soiling 
crops in supplementing poor pastures and in keeping up a uniform 
and economical flow of milk has been demonstrated for three succes- 
sive summers in feeding the university dairy herd. By the use of 
silage in summer the cows will be in better condition to enter the 
fall and winter, and the annual profit for the year will be increased." 

The records of milk production for the two groups differed very 
little. For the three years the cows fed soiling crops produced 
195.7 pounds more milk than the silage-fed cows, but 40 pounds 
more solids and 35.84 pounds more butterfat were produced by the 
silage-fed cows. The silage-fed group received 1,740 pounds more 
dry matter than did the soiling-crop-fed cows, but the soiling-crop 
cows consumed 420 pounds more protein during the trial than did 
the silage-fed cows. 



Silage 117 

Green corn is more commonly used for corn silage, and, be- 
cause it is generally grown and most difficult to store in forms other 
than as silage, it is most to be recommended for silage purposes. 
More than this, the character of the plant is such that the very best 
silage is made from it. Reference is often made to making silage 
from clover, alfalfa, soy beans, cowpeas, etc. This is advisable only 
when corn is not available or when it is impossible, because of 
weather conditions, to save these crops in the form of hay. En- 
siloed by themselves, they do not make as acceptable silage as corn. 
One distinct reason why this is true is cited by Esten and Mason, 
of the Storrs Agricultural Experiment Station, as follows : 

"From a theoretical standpoint, if mixtures of some legume with 
corn could be siloed it would secure a complete balanced food. Un- 
fortunately, the best legumes for this purpose are the clovers, which 
are ready for cutting in June. Only a second growth of clover could 
be siloed with corn in September. There are, however, two 
legumes which grow very well in Connecticut, cowpeas and soy 
beans, and these crops are ready to harvest by the time corn is ready 
to be cut. A mixture of three parts corn and two of cowpeas Or soy 
beans makes a very good combination. The advantage of mixing 
these is that the corn has the sugar which, turned into acids, will 
preserve both the corn and legume at the same time. The result of 
siloing legumes alone is- not satisfactory. The legumes, not having 
much sugar, do not afford the production of sufficient acid to pre- 
vent the fermentation of the high protein content of the legume. The 
protein is broken down into strong-smelling substances which are 
the result of incipient decay. It is likely to injure the legume as a 
food and to affect the quality of the milk in taste and smell." 

One of the best methods of employing legumes for mixing with 
corn in the silo is to plant them together. It is now possible to 
secure attachments for corn planters which will enable the seeding 
of soy bean or cowpea seed in the hill with the corn. By selecting 
a variety of either cowpeas or soy beans that will mature at the 
same time corn matures, one of these legumes can be checked in 
the hill with the corn and a double crop produced which, when en- 
siloed at the proper stage of maturity, will make a very excellent 
quality of silage. There are two reasons why this method is pref- 
erable to growing the corn and the legumes separately. In the first 
place, a larger tonnage of silage can be secured per acre, and, sec- 
ondly, both the corn and the legumes are cut at one operation and 
handled with one set of machinery. 



118 



Feeding the Dairy Cow 



To illustrate the comparative feeding value of the various 
varieties of silage, of which it should be remembered corn is the 
standard, the accompanying table from Henry's ''Feeds and Feed- 
ing," shows the dry matter and digestible feeding nutrients : 






H.Sr^ 



Digestible nutrients in 100 pounds 



Crude 
protein 
pounds 



Carbo- 
hydrates 
pounds 



Fat 

pounds 



Total 
pounds 



Corn, well matured, recent analyses 

Cojrn, immature 

Corn, from frosted corn 

Corn, from field-cured stover 

Kafir 

Sorghum 

Sugar-cane tops 

Alfalfa 

Apple pomace 

Barley 

Clover 

Corn and clover 

Corn and rye 

Corn and soy bean 

Cowpea 

Cowpea and soy bean 

Field pea 

Millet 

Millet, barnyard, and soy bean 

Oat 

Oat and pea 

Pea-cannery refuse 

Sorghum and cowpea 

Soy bean 

Sugar beet leaves 

Sugar beet pulp 

Vetch 

Wet brewers' grain 



26.3 

21.0 

25.3 

19.6 

30.8 

22.8 

23.5 

24.6 

20.6 

25 

27.8 

28.6 

19.4 

24.7 

22 

28.5 

27.9 

31.6 

21 

28.3 

27.5 

23.2 

32.3 

27.1 

23 

10 

30.1 

29.8 



1.1 
1.0 
1.2 
0.5 
0.8 



6 

5 
2 
9 

3 
1 
1 
6 
1.8 
1.9 
2.8 
1.6 
1.6 
l.S 
2.8 
1.6 
0.9 
2.6 
2.1 
0.8 
2 
5 



IS. 
11 
13. 

9. 
15. 
11 
12. 

7.8 
15 
12 

9.5 
15.9 
10 

13.8 
10.1 
13.2 
13.1 
15.3 

9.2 
13.8 
12.6 
11.6 
16.6 
11 
10 

6.5 
15.2 
11.1 



0.7 

0.4 

0.6 

0.4 

.6 

.5 

.2 

.6 

.6 

.8 

.5 

.7 

1.0 

.8 

.6 

.7 

.9 



.7 
.9 

1 
.8 
.6 
.7 
.4 
.3 
.8 

1.9 



17, 
13. 
16. 
11. 
17, 
13. 
13. 
10. 
17. 
15.8 
11.9 
19.6 
13.3 
17.2 
13.3 
16.7 
17.9 
18.7 
12.4 
17.3 
17.6 
15 

18.9 
15.2 
13 
8 
19 
20.6 



CHAPTER XV. 



CORN STOVER 



Even in sections where silos are most plentiful, it is not usual 
that the entire corn crop can be ensfloed. 

It has been demonstrated that where hogs are fed a portion of 
the crop can most profitably be hogged down. 

Where beef cattle are fed the fodder — which is the entire plant, 
consisting of stalks, leaves and ears — can be hauled to racks and 
fed whole because those kernels of corn which are not digested by 
the steers are recovered by hogs following. Experiments have 
proved that, even though the waste of stover is extensive when the 
fodder is fed in this manner, it is not great enough to pay for the 
labor incurred in shredding the fodder and feeding the corn separ- 
ately. And, because steers are fed in open lots, the corn stalks that 
are left can be handled with a degree of convenience. Some corn 
fodder can be used in this same manner for young things and dry 
cows that are being roughed through the winter cheaply, but it is 
not the rule that corn fodder can be most advantageously fed in this 
manner on dairy farms. 

The approved methods of feeding dairy cows demand that the 
cows be stabled and that their grain be ground to encourage pro- 
duction that is at once large and economical. This practically elim- 
inates the use of whole corn fodder as an advisable feed for them 
and, likewise, it prohibits a consideration of the all too prevalent 
method hi shucking the corn and leaving the stalks and leaves 
standing in the field for cows to browse, regardless of climatic condi- 
tions. 

Therefore, but one advisable system remains. When the silos 
have been filled and a portion of the field given over to the hogs to 
convert into pork without the aid of man, all corn that remains 
should be cut promptly, shocked and left in the field only long 
enough to cure well. As soon as it is dry enough so* the corn will 
not spoil in the crib, nor the stover mold in the barn or stack, it 
should be shredded. There is much value in corn stover if it is 
shredded in the late fall before it becomes frozen and covered with 
snow, provided it is protected from the elements which leach from 
unprotected shocks much of the most valuable nutriment, and the 
most palatable and most nutritious portions, the leaves, are blown 
away. 



120 Feeding the Dairy Cow 

A completely equipped dairy farm should have a roughage shed 
large enough to house the shredded fodder as well as the hay. 
Where both cannot be sheltered under roof, it may be more advis- 
able to stack the hay and shelter the stover, because hay can be 
stacked so it will suffer much less from wind, rain and snow. 
Where shredded corn stover is carefully preserved, it is distinctly 
valuable wherever cows are kept. Nothing is superior to it for bed- 
ding purposes. Its capacity to absorb liquid surpasses any kind of 
straw. It is comparatively free from dust ; it makes for the- cow a 
comfortable bed; it keeps her clean, and, when — with the manure — 
it is returned to the field, it can be readily turned under to quickly 
rot or it can be used to excellent advantage for top-dressing pur- 
poses. 

For bedding purposes alone it is worth in many sections from 
$6 to $8 per ton, and its fertilizing value when returned to the field 
amounts to $5.19 per ton, estimating nitrogen to be worth 20c per 
pound and phosphoric acid and ipotash each worth 5c per pound. 
This also is a value that is largely lost where stalks are left to stand 
in the field all winter. 

But these are secondary values. Shredded corn fodder has real 
feeding value worthy of consideration where profit from producing 
milk and butterfat is the aim. For furnishing dry matter it is as 
useful as most of the carbonaceous hays. This is shown by plate 
No. 74, which represents 100 pounds of shredded fodder containing 
a medium content of moisture. Furthermore, supplying dry mat- 
ter is one of its chief values, especially where silage is heavily fed, 
and this suggests an excellent method of using it. When cows have 
eaten to their satisfaction of silage and the mangers are filled with 
clean, bright, shredded stover, they go to work again picking out 
the choice morsels of palatable leaves, stray kernels of corn, and 
even the smaller pieces of stalk, eating them with avidity. This 
gives assurance that the daily ration furnishes the required amount 
of dry matter. If leguminous hays and much protein concentrates 
are fed with the silage and roots, the feeding of the stover further 
assures a properly balanced ration, for enough will be eaten to fur- 
nish carbohydrates where they are needed. As is shown by plate 
No. 76, corn stover is rich in this nutrient, although, as plate No. 75 
explains, it contains much indigestible material and a comparatively 
large percentage of mineral matter. After the cows have picked out 
the best from the stover, what remains is not wasted, for, .when it 
is placed under the cows, it serves as well for bedding as though it 
had not first been oflfered to them as a feed. 

Where one does not have a silo, corn stover can be made to 
serve fairly well as a succulent food by moistening it thoroughly 



Corn Stover 121 

with hot water, mixing concentrates with it, covering the mass with 
sacking or blankets and leaving it to steam and soften for several 
hours. 

Many years ago when *'Tama Jim" Wilson, ex-secretary of agri- 
culture, was director of the Iowa Experiment Station, he tested this 
method of using shredded fodder and found he was able to secure 
almost as great production of milk and butterfat as when silage was 
used for succulence, and the quality of butter produced was some- 
what superior to that which was produced with the use of silage. 
This does not indicate, however, that cut or shredded corn fodder or 
stover should be used in preference to silage, because the cheapness 
with which silage is prepared recommends/ its use as the most con- 
venient and economical system of utilizing the corn plant for dairy 
purposes. 

When considered from its various standpoints, corn stover 
proves itself of great value; in fact, far too valuable to be wasted in 
the wholesale manner in which it is, representing, as an acre of it 
does, an amount of feeding nutriment at least equal to the grain 
which grew upon it. But when fed alone, because of the small 
amount of protein and the large amount of indigestible material it 
contains, animals can barely live upon it and cannot be expected to 
yield milk. 

In this respect it resembles very closely timothy hay, and, ac- 
cording to Cyril G. Hopkins, who conducted experiments at the Uni- 
versity of Illinois to determine the composition and digestibility of 
corn stover, the eatable portion of it has a nutrient value fully equal 
to that of timothy hay. 

Large is the value of corn stover when used for what it is worth 
and as a supplement for adding dry matter, variety and carbohydrates 
to rations lacking in these respects. xA.s short-sighted is the one who, 
having acres of corn stalks going to waste, ignores their worth, as is 
the one who over-estimates the value of corn stover and expects his 
animals to thrive upon it as a sole ration without feeding with it 
foods which furnish succulence and additional digestible nutrients. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

TIMOTHY HAY 



A discussion of timothy hay following that of shredded corn 
stover might be brought to an abrupt close and yet portray the actual 
value of this most generally used hay by stating that for feeding pur^ 
poses it is a trifle better than shredded corn stover, but much less 
valuable for bedding, and that a ton of it contains just a trifle more 
fertilizing nutrients than a ton of corn stover. 

The comparison of the content of moisture, ash, indigestible 
material and digestible feeding nutrients of timothy hay with corn 
stover Avill be readily appreciated by the following table : 







Dry matter 
pounds 






Digestible nutrients in 
100 pounds 


100 pounds 


Moisture, 
pounds 


Indigestible 

material, 

pounds 




Protein, 
pounds 


Carbo- 
hydrates, 
pounds 


Fat, 

pounds 


Corn stover . . .... 


19.0 
11.6 


81 

88.4 


30.3 
36.0 


5.5 
4.9 


2.1 
3.0 


42.4 
42.8 


7 


Xiniothy hay 


1.2 



















To study this comparison is to recognize that, where valuable 
land is devoted to raising timothy, an extravagant mistake is being 
made if corn stover can be secured at the usual low cost for feeding- 
purposes. The very fact that a ton of timothy hay contains 200 
pounds more indigestible material and only 18 pounds more protein, 
8 pounds more carbohydrates and 10 pounds more fat in a digestible 
form than the stover shows that the feeding value of timothy is gen- 
erally overestimated. 

One lecturer has said that the only reason cows do not starve to 
death when compelled to live on timothy hay alone is because they 
cannot eat enough of it. This is a forceful expression, yet it is true 
that, because o£ the low amount of protein and the great amount of 
indigestible material contained in timothy hay, it is almost impossi- 
ble for a cow to eat enough of it daily to maintain her own body, 
much less to be expected to produce milk either largely or profitably. 

Although timothy hay contains a very small amount more pro- 
tein and fat than corn stover, the two seeming advantages it- has are 
that it is more palatable and its physical characteristics are such that 
it will be eaten with less waste. Yet, where corn stover is properly 
harvested and preserved, it proves almost as palatable, and that which 



Timothy Hay 123 

is assumed to be waste from a feeding standpoint is gain in value 
for bedding. In many sections the feeding value of both of these 
roughages, when compared with leguminous hays, is so small that 
the value of the wasted portions of the stover is greater when used 
as bedding than the timothy hay is as a foodstuff. 

Timothy hay is recognized as an excellent roughage for horses 
because it is palatable to them and is more free from dust than are 
leguminous hays. For this reason it always commands a good price 
on the market. Therefore, it is wisdom and a demonstration of good 
judgment for the dairyman to sell his timothy and shred corn stover, 
carefully preserving it for use instead of higher priced timothy hay. 

I can realize that there are circumstances that would lead a dairy 
farmer to raise timothy hay. Perhaps there is justification in seeding 
it with clover so that if a stand of this, more useful hay is not secured, 
or if it freezes out, the ground that was seeded will not stand idle. 
Perhaps there are certain sections, and some farms in other sections, 
where legumes cannot be grown successfully. Surely it is true that 
timothy can be raised and harvested with ease and certainty in many 
parts of the United States. But, with an ever-present market for 
timothy hay, with corn stalks nearly everywhere going to waste, and 
hays made from legumes everywhere available at prices such that 
more profitable milk production may be secured by selling the tim- 
othy and investing the proceeds from it in shredding the corn stover, 
I am unable to fathom the thoughts of a man who will feed timothy 
hay for large and economical milk production. 

To determine in an authentic manner the exact value of timothy 
hay as a fed for dairy cows in comparison with alfalfa hay, Wilbur 
J. Eraser and C. C. Hayden of the Illinois University, conducted an 
exhaustive experiment in which 16 cows w^ere divided into two lots 
of eight each, and, after a preliminary feeding period of three weeks, 
the following 18 weeks were divided into two feeding periods of nine 
weeks each, and this was followed by a subsequent period of four 
weeks. The feed was weighed to each lot but not to each individual 
cow! Throughout the entire demonstration the basic ration con- 
sisted of a grain mixture of two and one-half pounds of corn meal to 
one pound of wheat bran and shredded corn stover. The ration is 
shown in tabulated form below : 

Average Ration 
Lot 1 Lot 2 

First period— First period — 

Mixed grain 13 pounds Mixed grain 13 pounds 

Corn stover 10 pounds Corn stover 10 pounds 

Timothy hay 10 pounds Alfalfa hay ": 10 pounds 

Nutritive ratio — 1 :10.2. Nutritive ratio — 1:6.6. 

Second period — Second period — 

Mixed grain 12 pounds Mixed grain 12 pounds 

Corn stover 10 pounds Corn stover 10 pounds 

Alfalfa hay 10 pounds Timothy hay 10 pounds 

Nutritive ratio — 1:6.6. Xutritive ratio — 1 :10.2. 



124 



Feeding the Dairy Cow 



When the experiment was concluded it was possible to tabulate 
the following table. 

In explanation of this table the experimenters call attention to 
the fact that the figures can be applied only when the alfalfa and tim- 
othy hay are fed with the feeds used in the test, or with other similar 
feeds. However, with this in mind, the reader cannot help but be 
impressed with the utter folly of depending upon timothy hay for 
feeding dairy cows when it is possible to secure alfalfa hay either by 
raising or purchasing it on the market. The fact is thoroughly dem- 
onstrated that timothy hay can be sold and alfalfa hay purchased at 
twice the price per ton and larger and more economical milk produc- 
tion results. 

The knowledge of the extremely greater value of an acre of 
ground devoted to the raising of alfalfa hay instead of timothy hay 







Value of alfalfa, per acre, above 




Value of alfalfa 


timothy, when timothy is worth 


Price of milk 


per ton, above 


$10 per ton. (Alfalfa four tons per 


per 100 pounds 


timothy 


acre; timothy one and one-half 
tons per acre.) 


$1.00 


$ 8.36 


$58.44 


1.10 


9.19 


61.76 


1.20 


10.03 


65.12 


1.30 


10.86 


68.44 


1.40 


11.70 


71.80 


1.50 


12.54 


75.16 


1.60 


13.38 


78.52 


1.70 


14.21 


81.84 


1.80 


15.06 


85.24 


1.90 


15.88 


88.52 


2.00 


16.72 


91.88 



must make impressive the fact that even though it may seem difficult 
and expensive to secure and maintain a stand of alfalfa, it is worth 
the study, the effort and the expense which is necessary to convert 
the timothy field into one growing legumes. 

Commenting upon the condition of the cows used in the above 
test, Eraser and Hayden report as follows : 

"Besides the greater returns in milk, the condition of the cows 
count for much. At the end of each period, the cows which were fed 
alfalfa hay were in much better condition than those fed timothy. 
The timothy, although of good quality, was not palatable, and the 
cows receiving it lost in flesh, their hair was rough, and they were 
in poor condition, generally. A number of them were more or less 
*ofif feed' at different times. Such was not the case with the same 
cows while being fed alfalfa. They had better appetites and ate their 
corn stover more readily than when receiving timothy hay. If the 
effect is so great in so short a time, it is easy to see why many of the 
dairy cows in Illinois come out of the winter in poor condition and 
have a small milk account to their credit." 



CHAPTER XVIL 

STRAW 



There was a time when straw resulting from threshing various 
grains was considered valuable for feeding purposes. Young stock 
was expected to winter in the stalk field and the straw stack as a 
source of variety. Animals in good condition from their summer 
feeding on luxuriant pastures, as they existed in those days, had 
stored up in their bodies surplus fat so that, even under these condi- 
tions, they managed to live until grass came again, but every day 
they were subjected to this sort of feed and management they de- 
creased in weight, flesh and condition. 

Experience and experiments have so fully shown the folly of 
such methods of feeding that seldom indeed is a farmer to be found 
who believes that straw possesses any great virtue as a source of 
food nutriment. Yet, under certain conditions, straw is palatable 
and useful. 

As shown by the following table, it contains as much dry matter 
as timothy hay and corn stover, equally as much digestible carbo- 
hydrates and an amount of mineral matter equalling that possessed 
in stover and greater than timothy hay. As a matter of fact, a care- 
ful comparison of oat straw with timothy hay leads to the conclusion 
that, like shredded corn stover, it may be used in place of timothy 
hay for supplementing other foodstuffs. 





.2 c 


Dry matter 
pounds 


Indigestible 

material, 

pounds 


to 


Digestible nutrients in 
100 pounds 


100 pounds 


O 3 


. ^ CO 

u-V 3 


CO 




19.0 
11.6 

11.5 


81.0 
88.4 
88.5 


30.3 
36.5 
38.6 


5.5 
4.9 
5.4 


2.1 
3.0 
1.0 


42.4 
42.8 
42.6 


.7 


Timothy hay 

Oat straw 


1.2 
,9 













Not alone is it necessary to consider the value of oat straw from 
the chemist's standpoint, for observation of a herd of cows presum- 
ably well fed shows that straw is appreciated by them. Who has 
not seen a cow being heavily fed, on alfalfa hay, silage and grain, 
turn in her stall, pick up bits of straw and eat them with avidity, 
when she is freshly bedded? 



126 Feeding the Dairy Cow 

Very often silage-fed cows fail to secure from the remainder of 
their ration enough dry matter. If they are fed narrow grain rations 
and alfalfa or clover hay to furnish protein, there is a likelihood that 
carbohydrates are needed to balance the ration. For supplying both 
dry matter and carbohydrates, straw is useful, and, when it is used 
for bedding, it may in addition be used also as a factor of safety to 
make sure that cows receive enough dry matter and carbonaceous 
material to maintain their bodies and to provide that from which to 
make milk and butterfat. 

An excellent way to use it for feeding purposes is to place that 
amount which would be used for bedding in the cow's manger, leav- 
ing it there long enough for her to pick it over, securing from it 
chafif, occasional kernels of grain and the other palatable portions 
she may find. It will be a surprise to most feeders to note the great 
amount that will be eaten. The milk scales will also vouch for the 
fact that the cow's time occupied in eating and digesting straw is not 
entirely wasted. 

In European countries where farmers cannot afford to practice 
the extravagance so prevalent in this country, straw is very largely 
used in compounding rations. After running it through a cutting- 
machine and chopping it into short lengths, it is mixed with roots and 
grains, thus providing a ration that is palatable, well balanced and 
sufficient for large, yet inexpensive production. The animal not only 
secures from the straw what food nutrients it contains, but, because 
of the bulk given the ration, digestion is aided and the animal secures 
greater value from the other foods mixed with it. 

In this country where other roughages are available in so great 
abundance and labor that would be incurred in cutting and mixing 
the straw with rations is so expensive, there is much doubt about 
this method being of sufficient importance for recommendation and, 
no doubt, the plan of offering the whole straw to the cows to pick 
over before using it for bedding is the most advisable one under the 
majority of conditions. That every dairyman can well afford to use 
liberally of straw in this manner is certain, because, in addition to the 
feeding and bedding value of it, each ton that is returned to the field 
takes with it $2.68 w^orth of nitrogen, phosphoric acid and potash, 
the essential fertilizing constituents so necessary for maintaining 
and building greater soil fertility. 

Other straws, such as those derived from threshing millet, bar- 
ley, buckwheat, rye, rice and wheat, are less valuable than is oat 
straw for feeding purposes because they are less palatable and carry 
less feeding nutriment. Nevertheless, it is advisable to use them in 
the same manner, for certain it is that no harm will come from their 



Straw 127 

use, and the method is such that what little feeding value is secured 
from them is in addition to that which results from their use as bed- 
ding and being returned to the field in the best possible manaer for 
fertilizing purposes. 

In those sections where alfalfa, clover, beans, peas, soy beans 
and cowpeas are threshed for seed purposes, a straw results which 
is more valuable than oat straw for feeding purposes. From three 
to four times as much protein per ton of straw is secured, with the 
amount of digestible carbohydrates and fat practically equal. Be- 
cause of the larger proportion of digestible protein, these leguminous 
straws are such that they will just about provide a maintenance ra- 
tion. For this reason they are valuable as supplementary feeds to be 
used in conjunction with rations conducive to milk production. 
Being coarser in character, with stems that are hard and brittle, they 
are not altogether palatable, neither do they make as good bedding 
as does oat straw. Under conditions where their use is an important 
factor in decreasing the cost of feeding dairy animals, they can be 
made most useful by cutting them into quarter-inch lengths, mois- 
tening them just enough to soften the stems and cause them to ad- 
here to particles of other feeds. Used in this manner it will be found 
they have been rendered sufficiently palatable so that animals will 
eat them with avidity and increase in production according to the 
feeding nutrients contained in the straw. 

Naturally, because of the larger content of protein possessed by 
leguminous straws, their nitrogen-furnishing power is greater than 
is that of the carbonaceous straws. Because of this more fertility is 
returned to the field when they are used for feeding and bedding pur- 
poses. 

The point I would bring out in discussing corn stover and the 
various kinds of straw is not that they are extremely valuable for 
feeding purposes. On the other hand, the use of either corn stover 
or any kind of straw as a sole ration for dairy animals is to be dis- 
couraged. The real importance of the discussion is to illustrate the 
fact that each compares very favorably with timothy hay and, like 
this roughage, which occupies so many acres of valuable land, they 
may be used to advantage for supplementing other rations and add- 
ing to the variety, dry matter and carbohydrates of any ration that 
may be lacking in these respects. 

With a knowledge that these by-products of grain raising can 
be used in substitution for timothy hay, it will enable the feeder to 
decrease the cost of his ration by selling his timothy or devoting the 
acres that grow it to other purposes. 



CHAPTER XVIIL 

OTHER CARBONACEOUS ROUGHAGES 

So similar in feeding value are the various roughages rich in 
carbohydrates and poor in protein that, to a large degree, what has 
been written regarding corn stover, timothy hay and straw may be 
said to apply to the feeding value of all. 

Soil, climatic conditions and the availability of protein feeds 
necessitate raising certain plants. Because thereof roughages that 
are grown in abundance in one section, and useful for feeding pur- 
poses there, are neither available nor advisable for feeding purposes 
in other sections. The less bulky and more expensive concentrates 
can be shipped from one section to another and this, to some extent, 
is true of the more valuable protein hays and roughages. Because in 
every section one or more grasses of the carbonaceous type can be 
raised it is seldom advisable to ship them long distances. 

The value of any feed is two-fold. Primarily it is valuable to the 
extent that it furnishes the animal with digestible food nutrients. If, 
however, practically all grains and grasses grown in a vicinity fur- 
nish the same nutrients to the exclusion of other essential nutrients, 
it is evident that a feed which will supply that which is generally 
lacking for the purpose of balancing rations is doubly valuable. 
Therefore, the secondary value of a food is its usefulness in provid- 
ing that of which there is a scarcity in those feeds most easily and 
prevalently grown. It cannot be said of either protein or carbohy- 
drates that one is more valuable than the other for feeding dairy 
cows. Both are essential, and a ration ever so rich in one, but lack- 
ing in the other, is faulty. For this reason a carbonaceous roughage 
that would be of limited worth in the corn belt, where corn is so 
abundantly grown, would be of large value in the south where cot- 
tonseed meal, soy beans and cowpeas are so plentiful, or in the west 
where alfalfa grows so bountifully. It is for this reason that the 
feeder should have an accurate knowledge of the roughages and their 
characteristics that he may grow those that will help him to solve 
his feeding problems, as well as those best adapted to climatic and 
soil conditions. 

Prairie Hay 

In many states, especially in the north, much prairie hay still 
grows, quite as it did half a century ago. In some instances, specu- 
lators secured large acreages in early days, holding them for the in- 
crease in the value of the land. They have refused to permit the 



Other Carbonaceous Roughages 129 

turning of the virgin sod. Each year a crop of hay is sold standing at 
a very low price to farmers living near enough to harvest it. In other 
instances, where as yet land has not been tiled sufficiently for crop- 
growing purposes, prairie hay is still allowed to grow. Where these 
conditions exist, a very useful carbonaceous hay can be secured at a 
low cost. Being prized more highly as a feed for horses, the rule is 
that it is advisable to sell prairie hay, investing the proceeds in a 
leguminous hay more suitable for milk production. 

On the other hand, many dairymen have found prairie hay to be 
quite valuable for calf feeding purposes where youngsters are fed 
heavily on skim-milk and other protein foods. It proves to be an 
excellent filler, distending the barrels of calves, developing the di- 
gestive apparatus and having a tendency to decrease the liability of 
scours. 

Chemists find prairie hay to be quite analogous to timothy hay 
in the content of digestible nutrients, and somewhat higher in min- 
eral matter. Therefore, from the standpoint of practical feeding op- 
erations, it is safe to assume that prairie hay can be substituted for 
timothy with the expectation of securing equally good results. 

Brome Grass 

Another grass that makes a hay so similar to timothy that they 
may be considered practically equal, when used as a roughage for 
dairy cattle, is brome grass. As a rule this is used more as a pasture 
grass to be mixed with other grasses rather than grown by itself. It 
is especially valuable because it provides pasture early in the spring 
and late in the fall, also furnishing much pasturage in the summer 
if the season is favorable. It is palatable and produces largely. In 
parts of Kansas, Nebraska, Minnesota, the Dakotas, Canada and in 
the western states, where bluegrass and timothy do not thrive well, 
brome grass is becoming quite a popular pasture and meadow grass. 
It has a distinct value in the states where the securing of carbohy- 
drate material to feed with alfalfa and other protein feeds is a prob- 
lem. 

Owing to the fact that it thrives better on sandy soil and seems 
peculiarly adapted to the climatic conditions of the sections where 
it is most largely grown, brome grass shoulci receive consideration 
from dairymen in search of carbohydrate material for balancing ra- 
tions. But, where carbohydrates are plentiful and protein scarce, 
brome grass, like timothy and prairie hay, should be considered a 
crop that should be sold and replaced with a roughage rich in pro- 
tein. ^ , , ^ 

Orchard Grass 

A characteristic of orchard grass is it grows in large tufts, and 
for this reason it is seldom considered as a sole grass for meadows. It 



130 Feeding the Dairy Cow 

withstands drouths and grows better on sandy soils than does tim- 
othy, so that, in sections where timothy does not grow well, orchard 
grass sown with other grasses is oftentimes used as a substitute. It 
may be considered almost equal to timothy in feeding value. It is 
thought to be more nutritious, but because it grows ranker and 
coarser it is not eaten so rapidly. This objection can be practically 
overcome by cutting it early or at the time it is just in blossom. Or- 
chard grass is grown over so small an area that it does not demand 
general consideration as a roughage by the dairyman. Where it is 
grown and a carbohydrate roughage is necessary, it may be fed in 
substitution for other grasses that rank with timothy hay. Otherwise 
it should be used for pasturage or sold and replaced by a roughage 
more stimulating to milk production. 

Red Top 

In the eastern and southern states red top is very largely raised 
for hay. As a rule it is sown with timothy, but, being a longer lived 
crop, takes the meadow after the timothy has died out. Red top 
grows especially well in moist soils and is more advisable to use for 
rendering such parts of fields, meadows and pastures productive than 
for growing as a general crop. It is richer, slightly, in both protein and 
carbohydrates than timothy hay, but, generally speaking, it may be 
considered on the same basis in practical feeding operations, and 
may be substituted for timothy hay without expecting that cows will 
either increase or decrease in milk flow to any perceptible extent. 

Other Low Protein Grasses 
There are numerous other low protein grasses found in various 
sections of the country that dairymen may find available, such as 
Johnson grass and Bermuda grass, which are grown so extensively in 
the south; rye grasses, meadow fescue, wild oats grass, buffalo grass, 
grama grass, para grass and others. Where these grasses grow, 
seemingly, they must be utilized to best advantage for feeding cows. 
Like the other low-protein grasses, their value rests largely with the 
fact that they are palatable; they furnish digestible food nutrients — 
most largely carbohydrates — to a rather limited degree; they furnish 
dry matter, and the rule is that they may be advisedly used provided 
their cost does not exceed their real feeding value and provided 
they are supplemented with other roughage and concentrates that 
are sufficiently rich in protein to balance the ration and furnish that 
nutriment which is known to be necessary for animal maintenance 
and for supplying the nutrients present in the milk and butterfat 
which the cow is capable of producing. Used without consideration 
of these well established truths — and this, too, often occurs — these 
low protein feeds are accountable for low production. In other 



Other Carbonaceous Roughages 



131 



words, feeders are inclined to depend too largely upon hay made 
from these grasses, not realizing the low feeding value of them. The 
safe rule to follow when any one or more of these grasses are used 
for hay, whether or not they are supplemented with corn silage,- is 
to feed a very narrow ration of concentrates, one comparatively rich 
in digestible protein in proportion to the carbohydrates it contains. 

Feeding Nutrients contained in Low-protein Grasses. From Henry & Morrison 











Digestible Nutrients 


Feeds 


Pounds 


Lbs. Dry 
Matter 


Pounds 
Ash 


Pounds 
Protein 


Carbo- 
hydrates 


Fat 


Timothy hay 

Kentucky Blue Grass hay 

Brome Grass hay 

Meadow Fescue hay .... 

Gama Grass hay 

Johnson Grass hay 

Oat Grass hay 

Prairie Grass hay 

Orchard Grass hay 

Red Top hay 

Italian Rye Grass hay . . . 

Wheat Grass hay 

Wild Oat Grass hay 

Wild Rye Grass hay 

Bermuda Grass hay 

Buffalo Grass hay 

Gama Grass hay 

Para Grass hay 


100 
100 
100 
100 
100 
100 
100 
100 
100 
100 
100 
100 
100 
100 
100 
100 
100 
100 


88.4 
86.8 
91.5 
88.3 
88.2 
89.9 
88.2 
93.5 
88.4 
90.2 
88.6 
92.7 
92.1 
89.2 
90.3 
93.0 
93.4 
90.2 


4.9 
6.6 
7.7 
7.0 
6.2 
7.5 
6.1 
7 .7 
6.9 
6.8 
7.5 
6.9 
6.4 
7.3 
7.6 
11.5 
9.0 
6.6 


3.0 
4.7 
5.0 
3.5 
3.4 
2.9 
3.4 
4.0 
4.7 
4.6 
3.9 
4.0 
3.8 
4.0 
Z.7 
3.8 
3.2 
2.3 


42.8 
43.5 
44.2 
45.2 
40.5 
45.0 
38.4 
41.4 
41.1 
45.9 
40.7 
48.5 
42.8 
47.3 
37.9 
43.9 
41.9 
38.7 


1.2 
1.5 
0.9 
1.1 
0.8 
1.0 
1.2 
1.1 
1.6 
1.2 
1.0 
0.8 
1.4 
1.1 
0.8 
0.8 
0.7 
0.4 



CHAPTER XIX. 

SOILING CROPS 

On every dairy farm soiling crops should be grown. Cows will 
produce large amounts of rich milk economically only when their 
environment is such that they are not only well fed but comfortable. 
In all sections of the country there is a season of the year when the 
heat is so severe and the flies so tormenting that, to be comfortable, 
cows must be protected by stabling. It has never been definitely 
proved that there is a possibility of increasing the percentage of but- 
terfat in milk permanently and to a large degree by feeding, but all 
experience shows that comfort of the cow is conducive to a high test. 

To be a source of profit, the cow must work a large percentage 
of her time, so that if stabled even in a cool barn and protected from 
the flies, she must have access to food. It being a season when she 
is accustomed to succulent foods, she will not respond so profitably 
to dry forage. If a large percentage of the nutrients necessary to 
stimulate her greatest milk flow are given her in the form of grain, 
the cost of milk is increased to a point where profits are uncertain. 

Therefore, it becomes apparent that most excellent results de- 
mand succulent foods in addition to pasturage. True it is that heat 
and flies are not troublesome at night, and I frankly agree that cows 
should be permitted to graze when conditions are such that they find 
comfort in doing so. Another obstacle arises, however, in that in 
most sections there invariably comes a period of drouth some time 
during the summer months, when food is so scarce in the pastures 
that exercise is about all cows receive during their grazing hours. As 
a matter of fact, observation from traveling over all parts of the 
United States inclines me to believe that cows suffer more for want 
of food and lack of comfort in the summer than they do during the 
winter months. It has so long been the custom to raise and store 
feeds during the summer to be used in the winter that everywhere, 
when fall comes, granaries are full, hay is plentiful, and, of late, silos 
bulge. But, in years gone by, livestock were so few in number and 
land so plentiful, that, regardless of heat, flies and drouth, cows 
could find sufficient food and protection. Therefore, our fathers and 
grandfathers had no occasion to furnish their animals food other 
than pasturage during the summer months. The customs we have to 
follow do not recommend soiling. It is a fact that, not only pertain- 
ing to religious and political matters have many of us permitted 
others to do our thinking for us, but also in matters related to busir 



Soiling Crops 133 

ness affairs. As a result, year after year, the production of dairy 
products, after the increase resulting from the coming of spring days 
and green, luxuriant grasses, shrinks far below winter yields. 

But I need not dwell upon the advisability of summer soiling, 
either partially or in full, for there is no one who will not agree that 
under present-day conditions profits in summer time are absolutely 
dependent upon supplementing pastures. 

Best for the purpose is corn silage. Were I compelled to sacri- 
fice either my winter silo or the one which holds the summer succu- 
lents, I would part with the former. It is easier to provide suitable 
winter rations without silage than it is summer rations. A few ad- 
vantages summer silage has over soiling crops are: 1. It is less ex- 
pensive. 2. Its feeding value remains constant. 3. It is always ready 
and convenient to feed. 

From the standpoint of cost, corn silage is less expensive than 
summer-grown soiling crops because, during the fall of the year 
when the silo filling crew is at work, the silage is all made at one 
time, making it less expensive than though daily throughout the 
summer a man and team are kept busy a portion of the time, gather- 
ing soiling crops and hauling them to the barn to be fed. Further- 
more, silage is made from a practically mature crop, and, therefore, 
a greater tonnage of digestible feeding nutrients is secured from an 
acre, again lessening the cost. 

The objection to summer soiling crops is not only that time and 
labor are required in preparing small plots of ground, seeding and 
harvesting the crops, but during the feeding season there occasion- 
ally come rains which render the field muddy, the forage wet, and 
splashed with mud particles which make the process of feeding dis- 
agreeable, and the food unpalatable. Again, as a particular plot of 
soiling crops approaches maturity, the feeding value changes from 
day to day because there is an increased percentage of dry matter and 
digestible nutrients in proportion to the water content. When the 
time comes to change to the next successive plot the animals are 
changed from a food that has nearly reached maturity to one that is 
quite immature, occasioning a radical deviation in the quality of food. 
In this respect corn silage has a distinct advantage in that it is of 
practically the same palatability and feeding value from top to bot- 
tom. Dairy cows by consuming the same number of pounds secure 
practically the same volume of dry matter and nutriment. 

Even though it must be admitted that the thoughtful dairyman 
who looks for the greatest profit from his business must summer soil 
his cattle, there is a reasonable excuse for not doing so which is very 
often presented. Summer is a busy time, all hands are active in seed- 



134 Feeding the Dairy Cow 

ing, growing and harvesting crops for winter, leaving not much 
available opportunity for growing and harvesting crops for soiling 
purposes. 

There are many who determine that they will provide better 
food and comfort for their cows in summer, but when the time comes 
they find themselves so busy wdth other things and fail to do so. 
Herein lies the great value of the summer silo. When the silage is 
made in the fall, regardless of all seasonable conditions, it is ready to 
feed when the flies and the summer droughts come. It is certain to 
be available, regardless of weather conditions and regardless of how 
busy every one on the farm becomes in spring and summer. When 
the hot days come and the neighbor's cows stand in the adjoining 
pasture under the shade of a tree, or perhaps in the cool water fight- 
ing flies, decreasing day after day in their milk flow, it is surely 
gratifying to the breeder and dairyman, with a summer silo, as he 
feeds his cows twice daily to give them a mess of palatable, succu- 
lent, easily digested, green silage to see them respond with an in- 
creased milk flow that means much by way of profit for his thought- 
fulness and intelligence. Furthermore, in case it so happens that, 
during any particular summer, pastures remain excellent throughout 
most of the season and flies are less pesky than is the rule so that 
cows need a less amount of soiling, or perhaps none during certain 
portions of the summer, it is possible to leave the silage for winter 
or for another summer. Once silage is properly placed within its re- 
ceptacle, it is somewhat like certain other things, the older it gets the 
better it becomes. Therefore, the factor of waste is so small that it 
scarcely needs to be considered. 

Summer silage is made in exactly the same manner as winter 
silage, the only difference being that the silo in which it is contained 
must be smaller. It is absolutely necessary to feed at least two 
inches off the top each day to eliminate trouble from mold due to hot 
weather. Therefore, and because it is supplemented by more or less 
grass, the summer silo should be only about two-thirds as great in 
diameter as the winter silo. 

Where the summer silo is not available and on farms where the 
whole farm is devoted to the raising of feed for winter, making it im- 
practicable to raise soiling crops, dried beet pulp is a most advisable 
food, but, because of the great demand for the limited supply, it is 
necessary to purchase it in the fall and store it for summer use. In 
localities accessible to beet sugar factories, that do not possess dry- 
ers, the wet beet pulp is highly appreciated by farmers, who haul it 
direct to their farms and feed it abundantly in bunks to their cows, 
in quite the same manner as the feeder of the corn belt feeds corn to 
his steers. 



Soiling Crops 135 

Where neither of these plans is possible nor advisable, then pro- 
vision should be made to have green feed growing and ready to feed 
whenever summer conditions necessitate doing so. 

Sweet clover and alfalfa are the first to recommend themselves 
because they are green and luxuriant early in the spring, and remain 
in that condition quite persistently throughout the summer and even 
into late fall. It is unfortunately true that only about one man in 
each community believes alfalfa will grow in his particular section 
and who succeeds in growing it. Likewise it is equally as unfortu- 
nately true that in every section there is on only about one man who 
believes that his stock will eat sweet clover, and who succeeds admir- 
ably by growing and feeding this valuable legume to his animals dur- 
ing the summer months. Nevertheless, it is rapidly becoming known 
that on practically every farm where proper methods are practiced 
alfalfa will grow and cows will eat sweet clover. 

To grow alfalfa the first requirement is to know the character 
of the soil. This determination is not hard to make. It is well known 
that in order to start well and grow successfully alfalfa must be 
seeded on ground rich in nitrogen, and practically free from acid. Ni- 
trogen can be added to the soil without great expense by scattering 
evenly 10 or 12 tons of well rotted stable manure to the acre. Acidity 
in the soil can be determined by inserting litmus paper into a hand- 
ful of the moist soil taken from the field which is to be seeded. 
Enough litmus paper can be secured from any drug store for 5c to 
make several tests in dififerent parts of the field. The time for prepar- 
ing the soil and seeding differs with different localities. Some places 
it has been found that seeding in the spring with a light sowing of 
barley or other cereal crop is best, but more generally does success 
result from summer seeding. Whichever the season found most ad- 
vantageous, the rules for raising alfalfa are quite the same and in 
cither event they must be followed faithfully, intelligently and with- 
out deviation. 

The seedbed must be deep, firm, mellow, fine and moist. Such a 
seedbed is easier to secure in springtime than in summer, and that 
process which will insure such a seedbed must be followed. Sum- 
mer seeding should be done from the 1st to the 10th of August and 
to secure the necessary seedbed at this season of the year is more 
diflficult. Seeding may follow either summer fallowing, a soiling crop 
or a small grain crop. 

After determining the presence or absence of acidity in the soil, 
by the use of litmus paper, the first step is to thoroughly disc the 
ground. Thorough disking means double disking lengthwise and 
crosswise one or more times. This process is necessary because dur- 



136 JFeeding the Dairy Cow 

ing the summer moisture from the clouds cannot be depended upon. 
Diskmg starts capillary attraction, which makes certain the securing 
of moisture from below the surface. Following this, 10 or 12 tons of 
manure should be spread over each acre. By this time sufficient 
moisture has been brought to the surface so that deep plowing is 
possible. The harrow should follow the plow and the disk the har- 
row, and again the harrow should follow the disk and vice versa until 
every clod has been reduced to soft, mellow, moist earth, and the 
seedbed has become firmed. 

If the presence of acidity has been detected, which it probably 
has, two, three or even four tons of ground limestone should be 
evenly distributed and harrowed into each acre. This will sweeten 
the soil and permit the little bacteria so necessary to the permanent 
growth and development of alfalfa to survive and work for mankind. 
Harmful as are most bacteria, these little fellows are worth millions 
.)f dollars to American agriculture, and, if we would love them like 
we ought to love all our livestock, and give them the right chance to 
live and work for us, they would make us more money than any live- 
stock we can raise upon our farms. Acid in the soil kills bacteria, so 
if we are even to permit them to live at all this acid must be neu- 
tralized by applying the lime. Unless we are willing to do this, we 
are not justified in saying that alfalfa will not grow in our commu- 
nity because we do not know ; we have not given it even a reasonable 
opportunity. 

Following liming, inoculation is the next step and is, regardless 
of what may be said to the contrary, quite as necessary as sowing the 
seed. It is true that in some places and on some fields alfalfa will 
thrive year after year without inoculation. This is the exception, 
however, and not the rule. I know that inoculation is a bugbear. 
Why it is I do not know, unless it is because it approaches so closely 
the scientific ; and we are yet more or less in that old rut where we 
shy at book farming and science. Yet, science as it pertains to 
farming is just common sense intelligently applied and books merely 
tell how. There is no part of the process of growing alfalfa that is 
simpler than inoculating the soil or the seeds. It costs practically 
nothing and is the process that puts in the soil the bacteria that are 
the most industrious hired men we have. They exact no compensa- 
tion, not even their board, at our expense. 

To inoculate the ground, it is necessary to secure a few hundred 
pounds of soil from a sweet clover patch along the roadside or from 
a well established alfalfa field of the one neighbor in your community 
who has been sufficiently faithful to raise alfalfa successfully. An 
excellent method for distributing this soil is by the use of a fertilizer 



Soiling Crops 137 

distributor. This implement not being available, a box from 12 to 
18 inches deep, the width and length corresponding to that of the 
harrow, should be built with a bottom made of slats placed suffi- 
ciently far apart so that, when the box is attached to the harrow 
and filled with inoculation dirt, the jar of the harrow will shake the 
dirt through the slated bottom and distribute it over the field while 
the harrow drags it into the soil immediately and before the sunshine 
has an opportunity to prostrate the bacteria it contains. This process 
is so simple that any boy on the farm can do it, and, yet, men who 
are otherwise most successful farmers think of it as a terrible task, 
and refuse to inoculate their soil and therefore repeatedly fail when 
they attempt to grow the most valuable crop that can be grown on 
the American livestock farm. 

The seeding of alfalfa should be with a drill. Alfalfa seed costs 
too much money to waste, although, if a drill is not available, the 
seed can be broadcast and lightly harrowed in. A better stand can be 
secured and better use can be made of the seed by drilling to a depth 
of only one-half inch from 8 to 10 pounds of seed and then crossing 
the field with the drill, seeding an equal amount, making a total seed- 
ing of from 16 to 20 pounds of seed per acre. 

Sweet clover is grown in much the same manner as alfalfa but in 
more instances proves successful when seeded in the spring than is 
the case with alfalfa. It is not quite but almost as particular in its 
demands for a sweet soil and inoculation as is alfalfa, but will grow 
on poorer land and stand more hardship. It makes a better grazing 
crop than alfalfa and is quite as good for soiling purposes but does 
not make as excellent hay. It is not to be recommended where al- 
falfa will grow successfully, but should be grown if alfalfa can not 
be, and then it will prove a stepping stone from the common hay to 
alfalfa, because sweet clover will inoculate and prepare the soil for 
alfalfa which will grow after sweet clover has succeeded. 

In grazing or soiling alfalfa, care must be taken, else cattle will 
bloat. To eliminate the danger, cows should first be well filled with 
dry hay or other dry feed and never given alfalfa when it is wet or 
the dew is on. Sweet clover is less dangerous in its green state, and 
there are those who claim that sweet clover, unlike other leguminous 
plants, will not bloat cattle. This makes it an excellent soiling and 
pasturage legume. 

As a matter of fact, all leguminous crops fit into soiling plants 
admirably and the clovers most common should not be overlooked. 
The manner of growing and using, however, need not be treated in de- 
tail at this time because the rules for growing clover as they apply 
in diiTerent sections are well known to the farmer, dairyman and 



l38 Feeding the Dairy Cow 

breeder. It is his business to grow these leguminous crops, and if 
he is successful he has made it a part of his life study to apply meth- 
ods most conducive to their successful raising. 

Very often, sweet clover, alfalfa and the commoner clovers are 
either not growing on the farm, or, in cases where they are, it may 
seem preferable that they be made into hay for winter feeding. It is 
true that with the exception of sweet clover they make such excellent 
hay that in most instances it seems advisable to provide substitutes 
for them as soiling crops in order that the legumes may be retained 
for winter feeding. 

After eliminating the use of all foods thus far mentioned, the 
plan should be to arrange a series of succession of crops so that for 
every day during the summer there will be green feeds growing 
and ready to use. The most important to select are wheat, oats, rye, 
barley, peas, vetch, soy beans, cowpeas, corn, sweet corn, sorghum, 
millet and rape. 

For early spring feeding wheat and rye should be sown at the 
rate of two bushels of seed per acre early in the September prior. 
One-half acre of each will provide liberal succulence for 15 cows 
from the middle of May until the 10th of June. The rye will be ready 
to feed first, and, after it has been used, the wheat will be sufficiently 
mature. The most acceptable seedbed can be made where other soil- 
ing crops have been removed early enough for proper preparation. 
This seedbed should be mellow, fine and deep, yet firm. Therefore, 
very thorough disking and harrowing recommend themselves rather 
than plowing, for three reasons : First, plowing is often difficult in 
the fall, owing to continued drouth. Second, it is not easy to pro- 
vide a firm enough seedbed immediately following plowing. Third, 
more available moisture can be secured and less of it wasted by disk- 
ing and harrowing rather than plowing. The seed may be broadcast, 
but, as is true of all other seeds under present conditions of high 
prices and endeavors to grow as large a tonnage as is possible per 
acre, it is much more advisable to drill the seed, placing them from 
one to two inches beneath the surface, where they will be in contact 
with the warm, moist earth and germinate quickly preparatory to 
responding strongly when the fall rains come. 

There comes a period between about the 10th and 25th of June 
when nothing serves the purpose of soiling so well as one of the 
clovers, and it would seem advisable to provide at least an acre for 
use at this time in tiding over from winter wheat and oats to the time 
when peas and oats are ready for use. It may be possible to fill this 
gap by seeding, as early as the frost has left the ground, early oats 
on corn stubble ground well disked and pulverized. Furthermore, 



Soiling Crops 139 

it is usually the case that pasture grasses are sufficiently luxuriant 
at this season so the dairyman is justified in taking the risk of his 
cows securing sufficient food fro/n grazing. 

As early as advisable, or about the middle of April, one-half 
acre of oats and peas should be sown at the rate of one and a half 
bushels each. This being one of the most advisable of all soiling 
crops, half acre plots should be successively sown each ten days until 
the middle or last of May, for oats and peas will thrive and grow 
rapidly and luxuriantly until intense heat and drouth intervene, 
which, however, may hardly be expected before the latter part of 
July. Ground should be prepared for this crop in about the same 
manner as for oats, except that it should be disked deeper, if possi- 
ble, to permit the placing of the pea seed at least three inches in the 
ground. In planting the oats and peas, the seed should not be mixed, 
but rather the peas should first be drilled at the rate of one and a half 
bushels and then the oats should be cross drilled in at a lesser depth. 
It may be possible that by deep seeding as much as one-half acre 
April 20th, 30th and May 10th and 20th more green feed than is nec- 
essary will be provided for 15 cows, in which event little need be the 
worry, for any of the crop not used for the purpose of soiling can be 
made into hay when the oats are in the dough stage. This rough- 
age will make hay almost, if not quite, the equal of clover hay in 
feeding value and palatability, if it is properly cured and stored. 

Thus far food has been provided for the portion of summer pre- 
ceding August 1st. The need for green feed now becomes more 
urgent. Fortunately, there are crops that can be used for the pur- 
pose. Barnyard millet recommends itself. Sown successively at the 
rate of 16 quarts per acre each 15 days from the middle of May to 
the middle of June on plots approximating one-third acre, sufficient 
food will be provided for 15 cows all through the month of August. 
Unless the ground on which millet is to be grown is mellow and 
smooth, it should be plowed and carefully prepared by disking and 
harrowing. This crop demands a soil warm, deep, mellow and moist 
in order for rapid growth to follow quick germination. Whether the 
seeds are broadcast or drilled, they should be placed deep enough to 
come in contact with considerable moisture. If drilled, 16 or 17 
quarts are necessary per acre, but if broadcast from 20 to 24 quarts 
are advisable for use. 

Sweet corn is a better soiling crop than field corn to be used 
from the latter part of August to the middle of September. Two- 
thirds of an acre planted in the middle of May will provide food for 
15 cows from the last of August to the middle of September, or in 
some instances, even from the middle of August, but one season 



140 



Feeding the Dairy Cow 



with another sweet corn should not be depended upon with a cer- 
tainty until the latter days of August. Another such plot, planted 
June 1st, will complete the feeding period up to the last of Septem- 
ber or the first of October, when field corn will be ready for use. It 
may be more advisable to depend on using from the regular field of 
corn after September 15th. At this time, in most localities, corn is 
ready for the winter silo. As soon as the silo is filled feeding from 
it may begin. 

As a summary the tables herewith will prove an excellent guide 
for furnishing an unbroken soiling plan for 15 cows, but should be 
considered merely as guides, for the time of seeding, acres seeded, 
and time for cutting can be given only approximately, because the 
yield of these crops per acre and the time of season when they are 
ready to cut depend very largely upon those conditions which govern 
the growing of crops in all sections. 

Another outline herewith anticipates the use of green clover and 
alfalfa. 

Guide for Soiling Plan for 15 Cows 



Crop 



Winter rye . . 
Winter wheat. 
Early oats . . . 



Oats and peas. 
Oats and peas. 
Oats and peas. 
Oats and peas. 

Millet 

Millet 

Millet 

Sweet corn . . . 
Sweet corn . . . 



Seed per acre 



2 bushels 

2 bushels 

2^ bushels 

1^ bu. each 

1^ bu. each 

1^ bu. each 

iy2 bu. each 

15 quarts 

15 quarts 

15 quarts 

15 quarts 

15 quarts 



Time of Seeding 



September 1st 

September 1st 

As soon- as frost 

leaves the ground 

April 15th 

April 25th 

May 5th 

May 15th 

May 15th 

June 1st 

July 1st 

May ISth 

May 30th 



Area 



1/2 acre 
H acre 
1 acre 



acre 
acre 
acre 
acre 
acre 
acre 
acre 
acre 
acre 



Time for cutting 



May 15th to 30th 

May 30th to JunelOth 

June 10th to 25th 

June 20th to July 1st 

July 1st to 10th 

July 10th to 20th 

July 20th to Aug. 1st 

July 25th to Aug. 10th 

August 10th to 20th 

August 20th to 30th 

A.ug. 25th to Sept. 15th 

Sept. 1st to 20th 



Field com ready for green feed and silage. 



Soiling with Green Clover and Alfalfa Available 



Crop 

Rye 

Alfalfa 

Clover 

Peas and oats.... 

Peas and oats.... 

Alfalfa, 2d crop . . 

Sorghum and cow- 
peas after rye . . . 

Same after peas 
and oats 



Seed per acre 


Time to seed 


Acres 


Time to feed 


2 bushels 


September 10th 


1 


May 15th to June 1st 


20 pounds 


August 12th 


2% 


June 1st to ISth 


20 pounds 


August 12th 


VA 


June 15th to 25th 


lyi bu. each 


April 15th 


1 


June 25th to July 10 


lj4 bu. each 


April 25th 


1 


July 10th to 2Sth 


20 pounds 


August 12th 


23/^ 


July 25th to Aug. 15 


75 lbs. sorghum, 








3 pecks peas 


June 1st 


1 


Aug. 15th to 30th 




July 25th 


2 


Aug. 30th to Sept. 30 



Two of the most useful soiling crops other than summer silage 
are not used extensively for feeding dairy cows, except along the 
Pacific coast, and especially in the Williamette valley. These are 
rape and thousand headed kale. Undoubtedly the specific reasons 
for this are that neither crop can be fed carelessly because of a ten- 
dency toward tainting milk, and that, unless care is exercised in pas- 



Soiling Crops 141 

turing and soiling cows on them, there is danger of bloat. How- 
ever, in those sections where a study has been made of these crops 
and how best to use them they have been found very useful for stim- 
ulating a large and cheap flow of milk. 

When cattle are well fed with hay and grain before being al- 
lowed to pasture on rape or kale — in fact, when the same precautions 
are taken as are necessary for pasturing clover and alfalfa — the dan- 
ger from bloat is reduced to a minimum. Therefore, dry cows and 
young dairy animals may be pastured successfully, cheaply and ad- 
visably on these crops where proper precautions are taken. 

When allowed to. wilt before being used for soiling purposes, 
there is scarcely any likelihood of ill effects upon the animal's diges- 
tive system, so that, valuable as they may be in some sections for 
pasturage, the great usefulness of kale and rape is for furnishing 
green feed for soiling purposes. Used in this manner, the objection- 
able flavors and odors likely to be imparted to the milk can be 
avoided by feeding them immediately after milking only. 

Sowing Rape 

The planting of rape may begin as early in the spring as the soil 
can be gotten in good tilth. This is the most advisable season for 
sowing, because both rape and kale are favored by cool, moist cli- 
matic conditions, even though they withstand hot weather and 
drouth fairly well when properly cultivated. Rich, deeply plowed, 
well prepared ground should be provided. They are quick, luxur- 
iant growers and demand much available plant food. The early 
seedings — those that may be assured of cool weather and sufficient 
moisture for 8 or 10 weeks — the time required for rape to reach the 
stage of growth suitable for use — may be broadcast or sown with a 
grain drill, using three or four pounds of seed per acre. Those plant- 
ings which are liable to suffer from hot, dry weather should be drilled 
at the rate of two or three pounds of seed per acre in rows of 24 to 36 
inches apart and cultivated regularly to eliminate weeds and to con- 
serve enough moisture in the soil to make it possible for the plants 
to grow vigorously. 

By thus seeding rape on rich ground, that is properly prepared, 
the middle of April, excellent feed may be had by the middle of June; 
and that which is sown even as late as the middle of June 
in most sections will supply green feed during the hot month of 
Augfust. In cutting rape care should be taken to cut the plants four 
or five inches above the ground, and this will permit a second crop 
to come along for feeding later. 

There are three methods commonly employed in raising rape for 
fall pasturage or soilage. Two or three pounds of rape seed may be 



142 " Feeding the Dairy Cow 

sown with oats in the spring. The rape does not make large growth 
until fall because the oats take the advantage in the early growing 
season, and when they are cut the rule is that the hot weather and 
lack of moisture in the soil discourages the growth of the young rape 
plants. When the first fall rains come, however, growth begins in 
earnest, and green food in abundance is provided for feeding up to 
and even after the first severe frost because the well grown rape 
plant withstands much cold weather. 

A second method is that of seeding three or four pounds of rape 
seed per acre in the corn just prior to the last cultivation, covering 
the seed with the cultivator. This plan provides a welcome seedbed 
and one so well shaded by the corn that the rape makes excellent 
growth by the time the corn is removed for silage or for shocking. 

The third method, and least advisable one, is that of plowing 
stubble ground, or that on which potatoes have been raised, after the 
grain is cut or the potatoes dug and preparing a suitable seedbed for 
planting in rows that are to be well cultivated during the summer 
months, making it possible for the rape to withstand the drouth and 
weeds. 

In the south rape should be sown in the fall from the first of 
September to the middle of October. It will respond well when the 
fall rains and cool weather come and grow all winter and up to the 
time when the hot, dry weather of early summer stops it. It, there- 
fore becomes apparent that for the southern dairyman, who is wil- 
ling to use the necessary precautions to guard against bloat and 
tainted milk, rape is a crop that can be very cheaply and easily grown 
for furnishing green feed throughout the period intervening between 
the late pastures of fall and the early pastures of spring. 

Raisers of sheep and hogs use rape very largely in many sections 
of the United States for pasturage. It can be used in the same way 
by feeders of dairy cattle, but this is a very extravagant use of it. 
Cows grazing on rape pull up a large percentage of the plant by the 
roots, prohibiting further growth, and they also ruin much of the 
crop by tramping it out. Where it is found advisable to pasture cat- 
tle on this crop, two or more pastures should be provided so that be- 
fore one field is grazed too closely the animals may be moved to 
another, thus permitting the field to renew its growth. 

Thousand-Headed Kale 

In the Willamette valley, where kale is grown very extensively, 
it is considered one of the very best crops that can be sown for stim- 
ulating milk production, especially because it can be fed throughout 
the entire winter and provides from late fall to early spring green 
feed that is considered by the western dairymen as being superior 



Soiling Crops 143 

to corn silage or any other winter roughage. In any community 
where climatic conditions will permit the growing and feeding of 
thousand-headed kale, the dairyman has a great advantage over 
those living in other communities, for it is possible for him to keep 
his cows on green feed every day in the year. The advantage he 
gains is not only along lines of economy of production but also along 
lines of producing large records. This suggests that wherever win- 
ters are as mild as they are west of the Cascade mountains, and such 
conditions prevail over most of the southern states, thousand-headed 
kale may be employed to excellent advantage by feeders of dairy 
cattle. 

Seeding Kale 

Like rape, this crop is seeded early in the spring. There are 
three methods employed. One of these is to prepare a suitable seed- 
bed very early in the spring in which the seed is planted in hills two 
feet eight inches to three feet apart each way and later the hills are 
thinned out to the required number of plants. 

The second method is to grow the plants seeded thickly in a bed 
and set them out in the same manner as is followed in setting out 
cabbage. 

The third, and perhaps the most advisable plan is to sow the 
kale in drills on well prepared ground as early in the spring as pos- 
sible, and in June or July the plants will have attained a size such 
that they can be transplanted. The ground which is to be used for 
this purpose should be tilled from early spring until this time. It 
is then plowed again and in each third furrow the plants are placed 
two and one-half to three feet apart. Care is exercised in so placing 
the plants that the fourth furrow covers the roots of them but not the 
tops. Each evening the plants thus plowed in are rolled to firm the 
ground and insure growth. Any space where the plants do not grow 
may be reset by hand later. 

Kale grows so rapidly after this stage of its life that it can be 
cultivated only a few times until the tops reach from row to row. 

By the middle of September or the first of October the crop is 
ready to begin feeding from. If all conditions have been favorable, 
a yield of 30 or 40 tons of feed per acre may be expected and this 
may be used to furnish green feed during the entire winter and until 
grass comes in the spring. 

In sections where an occasional few^ days of weather which is 
cold enough to freeze the kale may be expected, a supply may be 
cut and kept where it will not freeze until the weather moderates, 
when the field supply can again be drawn upon. 

In feeding value, although rape is not a legume, it ranks well as 



144 Feeding the Dairy Cow 

a green roughage with legumes, and is found by both the chemist and 
the practical feeder to be more valuable for furnishing milk-making 
nutrients than is green clover. This fact, together with the ease 
with which it can be raised, and because it can be grown as a catch 
crop in so many ways, using ground while it would not be wasted for 
other purposes, indicates that rape should be more generally raised 
for feeding dairy animals than it is at this time. 

Thousand-headed kale does not analyze so rich in feeding nutri- 
ents, ranking more nearly with pasture grasses, but because of its 
tremendous yield and the fact that in many sections it can be fed 
green all winter, it, too, well deserves the consideration of dairymen 
living in those sections where soil and climatic conditions will per- 
mit its growth and use. 

Neither of these crops are to be recommended for silage or hay 
making purposes because of their coarse growing character and great 
amount of water they contain, but from the standpoint of furnishing 
a green, succulent, palatable, easily digested food that can be used 
during exactly the season of the year when such food is necessary for 
tiding cows over from one favorable feeding season to another, these 
crops are very valuable and can be used to excellent advantage in 
conjunction with other soiling crops that are more generally recog- 
nized. 



CHAPTER XX. 

ROUGHAGE FROM SMALL GRAIN AND MILLET 

The crop census of 1909 showed that in the United States that 
year 4,324,878 acres of grain were cut green for roughage. This rep- 
resents an area almost equal to that devoted to raising alfalfa or 
nearly twice as many acres as grow clover — exclusive of the com- 
bined timothy and clover fields. This census includes cowpeas, 
which are largely grown in the southeastern part of the country and 
which should be classified with leguminous hays. When cowpeas 
are eliminated from the acreage, it is found that a far greater area 
than in any other section is devoted to the raising of oats, wheat, rye, 
Emmer (Speltz) and barley in the coast states of Washington, Ore- 
gon and California, although in every state a few thousand acres are 
used for this purpose. In the far western states, grains are raised and 
ciit green primarily for hay, while in other states they are grown more 
largely for nurse crops and the hay resulting from them is of sec- 
ondary importance in many instances. 

With much rapidity, leguminous hays are spreading over the 
country so that each year a proportionately less acreage will be used 
for raising grains for hay; but, because of their value in seeding 
down meadows and pastures, there will always be a supply of such 
hay available for feeding purposes. For this reason it behooves the 
feeder to have an understanding of their feeding values that he may 
use them according to their true merits and be prepared to properly 
balance the grain ration he would feed with them in order to secure 
satisfactory results. 

All of the grains cut green provide a hay that is superior to 
timothy hay in content of dry matter, mineral matter, digestible pro- 
tein and carbohydrates. They yield far greater tonnages per acre, 
and if cut at the right time and properly cured and preserved most 
of them are as palatable and as readily eaten as timothy hay. Yet, 
four times as many acres are devoted to the growing of timothy, 
exclusive of that which is grown with clover, than are used for grow- 
ing small grains for furnishing roughage. This fact indicates that 
the thoughtful dairyman who is now depending upon timothy as a 
source of hay for his cows can well afiford to plow up his meadow, 
devote it to growing grain crops for hay, if he is unable to grow a 
better variety of roughage, and raise a greater abundance of hay that 
is more valuable or an equal amount and devote portion of the land 
now in timothy to other crops. 



146 Feeding the Dairy Cow 

In the Pacific coast states and some of the semi-arid regions 
wheat is very largely used as hay. Because of the value of the grain 
where the crop is left to mature, hay made from wheat is expensive, 
but, when harvested at the time the kernels are in the milk stage, a 
hay is provided that is somewhat more valuable than oat hay from 
the chemist's standpoint. However, it is not so palatable, so it can 
hardly be considered superior to oat hay by the practical feeder. 

Beardless barley hay, and even hay made from the bearded va- 
rieties, may be classed as practically equal to wheat hay, but even 
greater precaution should be taken to cut it early to avoid the large 
percentage of unpalatable, woody stems and troublesome beards or 
awns. 

Hay made from Emmer, or Speltz, as this plant is commonly 
known, is richer in protein than that made from either of the other 
grain products and is raised quite largely in the semi-arid regions. 
The objection to it is that the yield is not heavy, and, even though 
great care may be exercised in cutting it early, a large percentage of 
it proves unpalatable because of the woody stems. It is not eaten 
readily and much waste results from its use. Rye hay, although like 
Emmer hay, rich in protein, has the same disadvantages in that the 
stems are coarse, fibrous and unpalatable. The chief use of this 
cereal as a forage crop, is that of providing green feed rather than 
dry hay. 

Of all the cereals, oats are used more largely for hay-making 
purposes. When cut while the kernels are in the milk stage and just 
approaching the dough stage, a very palatable hay results, and one 
which furnishes much feeding value, according to the chemist's an- 
alysis. Many practical feeders consider well-made oat hay almost 
equal to clover hay, where it is cut with the binder, left to cure in the 
shock and well stored. It is fortunate that such a good hay can be 
made from oats, because one of the most successful methods of seed- 
ing clover and other grasses to seed them with grains, which, if left 
to mature, would be cut in the hot, dry season, leaving the tender 
grasses to succumb. The fact that almost, if not quite, as much value 
can be secured from cereal crops by making them into hay before 
maturity is reached provides an opportunity for cutting them early 
and giving the grass an opportunity to get well under headway and 
gradually become acclimated before the adverse season of heat and 
drouth appears. 

Table 1 shows the comparative values of each of these grain 
crops as hay. ^.,j^^ 

In nearly every section of the United States one or more of the 
varieties of millet will grow, and in many parts millet is grown. Al- 



Roughage from Small Grain and Millet 



147 



though there are numerous plants that provide better green feed and 
dry forage than millet, there are definite reasons why every feeder of 
dairy animals should have a knowledge of its characteristics and 
feeding value. 

Millet is universally recognized as a catch crop. For this reason 
it is grown more largely some seasons than others. A severe winter 
often kills clover and alfalfa so that, after waiting in vain for these 
crops to come, a quick maturing annual plant is necessary* A late 
spring, or a wet one, makes it impossible to seed grain crops on cer- 
tain areas and this provides another instance which demands a plant 
that can be seeded late and yet mature. In fact, a very frequent oc- 
currence is the necessity for resorting to a rapid-growing, quick-ma- 
turing plant to take the place of another which may be more desir- 
able but which, because of abnormal conditions, is impossible to 
raise. 

Millet should not be sown until the ground is warm, and then it 
germinates quickly and rapidly and reaches the harvesting stage, re- 
quiring only 60 to 90 days to mature for hay-making purposes. It 
yields from two to four tons per acre, according to climatic condi- 
tions, rainfall and the variety grown. It, therefore, recommends 
itself as a very excellent emergency crop. It has been shown that it 
yields more heavily than timothy and later it will be noted that it also 
excels timothy hay in feeding value. One of the chief reasons given 
by the dairyman for raising timothy is that, by seeding it with 
clover, a crop of hay is assured even if the clover fails. A wiser plan 
by far would be to seed the clover by itself, trusting to secure a stand, 
and, if failure results, millet can be sown as a catch crop and more 
roughage of a better quality secured than if timothy were depended 
upon. 

Table No. 1 — Feeding Value of Cereal Hays 



Digestible Nutrients 



100 pounds 

Emmer (Speltz) hay. 

Rye hay 

Barley hay 

Oat hay 

Wheat hay 



Dry 
Water matter 



1 J 
8.2 
7.4 
12.0 
8.1 



92.3 
91.8 
92.6 
88.0 
91.9 



Mineral 
matter 



Protein 



9.3 
5.8 
6.4 
6.8 
6.4 



6.5 
6.4 
4.6 
4.5 
4.0 



Carbo- 
hydrates 



44.3 
46.0 
48.2 
38.1 

48.5 



Fat 



0.9 
1.1 
0.9 
1.7 
0.8 



Table No. 2— Feeding Value of Millets 


1 

Digestible Nutrients 


100 pounds ' Water 


Dry Mineral 
matter matter 


Protein 


Carbo- 
hydrates 


Fat 


Millet, (Barnyard) | 13.5 

Millet, Hungarian ! 14.3 

Millet, German 8.7 

Millet, Broom Com 9.3 

Millet Pearl 12.8 


86.5 1 8.2 : 5.1 
85.7 6.3 i 5.0 
91.3 6.9 1 4.8 
90.7 1 5.9 . i 5.3 
87.2 1 9.0 1 4.2 


40.5 
46.0 
49.7 
49.5 
43.8 
49.5 


0.8 
1.8 
1.7 
1.6 
8 


Millet', Wild or Indian.. ^ e.l 


93.3 6.9 


6.4 


1.5 



148 Feeding the Dairy Cow 

An objection that may be lodged against this plan is that millet, 
being an annual, does not provide a permanent meadow as does tim- 
othy, but this in reality may be an advantage, for it makes it possible 
and creates an opportunity each year to attempt raising the legume 
which provides hay of a quality greatly superior to any of the non- 
leguminous grasses. 

Again, it is often necessary for dairymen to purchase rough- 
ages, and, as millet is not considered a safe feed for continuous feed- 
ing of horses, it can usually be purchased at a very reasonable price 
in a locality where it is grown. For feeding purposes, the common 
fox tail millets, which include the German and Hungarian varieties, 
are preferable and more customarily grown. Several other varieties, 
including Japanese millet, sometimes known as the ''billion-dollar" 
grass, Pearl millet and Teosinte, produce larger crops, but, because 
they grow coarser, they are not so readily eaten and are less desir- 
able for feeding purposes. 

Millet should be harvested shortly after it blooms. If cut sooner 
than this, the hay has a decided laxative effect upon the animal, 
while, if left until the seed ripens, it is less palatable, and, the seed 
being very hard, is less digestible. 

Compared with timothy hay, the common fox tail millet may be 
said to be more palatable and more nutritious. Even though objec- 
tionable as a feed for horses on the score of the supposed ill effect 
upon the health of the animal, this objection does not apply to it as a 
food for cattle. 

By referring to the food nutrients contained in low protein hays, 
the feeder will recognize by the accompanying table compiled from 
Henry & Morrison's ''Feeds and Feeding," that the varieties of mil- 
let are richer in every constituent denoting feeding value. This is 
particularly true of the mineral elements. 



CHAPTER XXI. 

SORGHUM 

4 

There are two great classes of sorghum — the saccharine and the 
non-saccharine. Both have been used largely for feeding dairy cat- 
tle in the past, and they will be used more extensively in the future, 
because the dairy cow is becoming more prevalent in those sections 
where sorghums are grown. The area is rapidly spreading over 
which the saccharine varieties, because of the merits of these varie- 
ties for feeding, are grown for forage purposes. 

Non-Saccharine Sorghum 

The non-saccharine sorghum varieties are of two groups — the 
kaiir corn group and the durra group. The durra group which in- 
cludes Jerusalem corn and yellow milo, is grown to some extent in 
the southwest, but is considered less valuable than the kafir group, 
except in the very dry regions and in high altitudes. Both groups 
are drouth resistants. With 10 or 12 inches of rainfall during the 
entire growing season both will mature. And it is in this respect that 
the durra varieties have the advantage over the kafir group. Both 
will practically suspend growth during extremely dry periods and 
later resume growth after it rains. If, however, the rains come too 
late, kafir corn often fails to mature, but the durra group, especially 
the yellow milo, will continue to grow sufficiently to produce some 
seed, regardless of conditions. 

Therefore, the non-saccharine sorghums, of which kafir corn is 
of greatest importance and most widely grown, must be used as feed 
for dairy cattle in Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas and portions of Cali- 
fornia, Colorado, New Mexico, and, in fact, wherever a dry land crop 
of this character is necessary throughout the southwest. 

Non-saccharine sorghums are used in substitution for corn and 
in quite the same manner. Like corn, they may be used for soiling 
or silage making purposes. Used for green feed, they are especially 
desirable in the sections where they grow, because they are ready to 
cut and feed during the hot months of July, August and September, 
when other green feeds are scarce. For silage, kafir corn is about 
equal to corn, provided it is ensiled after the seeds are hard and when 
very little juice can be squeezed from the stalk by twisting it with 
the hands. If allowed to reach the stage of maturity, an excessive 
amount of moisture and acid will not be present in the resulting 
silage. 



150 Feeding the Dairy Cow 

Cattle are sometimes pastured on kafir corn, but this is not ad- 
visable in feeding dairy cows. It is far more economical to cut the 
kafir, even as it is more advisable to cut green corn and feed it as a 
soiling crop. It is doubly advisable, because at certain seasons of 
the year, when abnormal conditions exist, brought about by the 
growth of the plant being checked by drouth or other reasons, prus- 
sic acid becomes present in the plant in amounts deadly to cattle pas- 
tured on the kafir field. This danger is overcome when cattle are 
soiled by wilting the green material and feeding other feeds with it. 

The varieties of non-saccharine sorghum other than kafir corn 
have little value when used as fodder or stover, because they become 
very dry and pithy and lack in palatability so they are not relished 
by cows. Kafir corn fodder has about the same feeding value as corn 
fodder, but the more economical method of using the dry plant is to 
remove the heads, to be ground and fed as grain, leaving the stover 
to be used as roughage. Kafir corn stover compares favorably with 
corn stover and should be used in the same way. 

To be of greatest usefulness, the heads containing the grain 
should be thrashed. The seeds or sorghum are small and very hard, 
therefore not readily digested when fed whole. Even as it is advis- 
able to grind all grain that is fed to dairy cattle, it is doubly advis- 
able to grind sorghum grain. At the Oklahoma Experiment Station 
it was found that 100 pounds of kafir corn meal contained as much 
digestible matter, when fed to cattle, as 167 pounds unground. Chem- 
ical analysis show that kafir grain, milo grain, feterita grain, durra 
grain, kaoliang grain, sorghum grain and broom corn seed rank well 
with Indian corn but are not so rich in fat. Where they are grown 
they may be used in place of corn for dairy feeding purposes and 
good success obtained when one keeps in mind that from the stand- 
point of practical results one pound of the non-saccharine seeds 
ground are equal to four-fifths or seven-eighths of a pound of ground 
corn. Because of their carbonaceous character and low content of 
digestible protein, they should be used in dairy rations exactly as 
ground corn is used, and the rations balanced in the same way with 
nitrogenous foodstuffs. 

Saccharine Sorghums 

The saccharine sorghums are the ones most generally known to 
dairy farmers outside of the western states. In every section of the 
eastern two-thirds of the United States they are grown more or less 
for soiling purposes, silage and hay. There are few crops that can 
be grown which will furnish as large a volume of carbonaceous 
roughage and do it so cheaply as will the saccharine sorghums. 



Sorghum 



151 



There are many varieties, but of these the Sumas and the Amber 
are the two best to grow for forage purposes. The Sumac sorghumi 
is a late maturing variety, but is the heaviest yielder, grows the 
greatest abundance of leaves and contains the most sugar. It is the" 
most suitable kind to grow in the area lying south of a line drawn 
through the middle of Oklahoma, Missouri and Kentucky. North of 
this line Amber cane or sorghum is the most advisable variety. Its 
stems are slender, sweet, juicy, and, when properly harvested, cured 
and stored, they are very tender and palatable. Amber cane is the 
earliest maturing variety, and, if allowed to mature, will form seeds 
in 90 or 100 days. 

For pasturing, saccharine sorghum is not to be recommended 
unqualifiedly. There are many other grasses superior for this pur- 
pose which are not liable to develop prussic acid and become poison- 
ous to cattle. Furthermore, sorghum is so useful for soiling and 
hay-making purposes that it should be harvested rather than wasted 
by permitting animals to graze it. 

For making silage many crops are superior to sorghum. It 
should be ensiled only when corn and other crops more useful for 
the purpose are not available, or when the only means by wdiich it 
can be saved is by putting it in the silo. 

When circumstanc.es occur making it necessary to use it for 
silage, the sorghum should be allowed to reach that stage of maturity 

Feeding Value of Saccharine and Non-saccharine Crops 



Digestible Nutrients 



100 pounds 

Green Roughage 

Kafir 

Milo 

Durra 

Broom corn 

Sorghum 

Silage 

Kai^r 

Durra 

Sorghum 

Sugar cane tops 

Dry Roughage 

Kafir fodder 

Kafir stover 

Milo fodder 

Sorghum fodder . . . . 

Durra fodder 

Broom corn fodder. 
Grain 

Kafir 

Kafir heads, grround . 

Milo 

Milo heads, ground . . 

Feterita 

Durra 

Shallu 

Kaoliang 

Sorghum 

Broom corn seed . . . 



Moisture 



Dry 

matter 



Mineral 




matter 


Protein 


1.9 


1.1 


1.4 


0.8 


1.8 


0.9 


1.7 


0.9 


1.4 


0.7 


2.5 


0.8 


1.9 


0.6 


1.6 


0.6 


1.9 


0.5 


9.4 


4.1 


8.3 


1.7 


9.9 


1.9 


7.8 


2.8 


5.2 


1.0 


5.7 


0.6 


1.7 


9.0 


2.8 


6.1 


2.8 


8.7 


3.1 


6.3 


1.5 


9.3 


2.0 


8.2 


1.6 


10.1 


1.9 


8.5 


1.9 


7.5 


2.9 


8.3 



Carbo- 
hydrates 



Fat 



76.4 
n .Z 
77.6 
77.1 
75.1 

69.2 
79.7 
77.2 
76.6 



9.4 

11.8 

12.5 

10.7 

10.3 

10.8 

9.9 

9.7 

9.9 

12.7 

11.8 



23.6 
22.7 
22.4 
22.9 
24.9 

30.8 
20.3 
22.8 
23.5 

91.0 
83.7 
88.9 
90.3 
89.9 
90.6 

88.2 
87.5 
89.3 
89.7 
89.2 
90.1 
90.3 
90.1 
87.3 
88.2 



12.4 
12.7 
12.0 
12, 



12.2 

45.0 
43.1 
36.3 
44.8 
43.6 
44.6 

65.8 
56.6 
66.2 
58.1 
66.6 
67.9 
66.3 
67.0 
66.2 
62.9 



0.4 
0.3 
0.4 

0.3 
0.6 

0.6 
0.4 
0.5 

0.2 

1 .7 
1.3 
2.8 
2.0 
1.8 
1.1 

2.3 
2.0 
2.2 
1.9 
2.5 
2.7 
2.6 
3.3 
2.6 
2.6 



152 Feeding the Dairy Cow 

where seeds have been matured and the stems become free from 
moisture so that by twisting them in the hand only a small amount of 
juice can be squeezed out. If ensiled before this stage is reached, 
the silage will be very sour on account of the large percentage of 
moisture it contains. If left to mature, however, a fairly sweet, pal- 
atable silage will result, and its feeding value will be almost as large 
as that made from corn. 

Making hay of the saccharine sorghums is the best use to which 
they can be put. For this purpose they should be sown thickly and 
most preferably planted with a wheat drill at the rate of from one to 
two bushels per acre, according to the humidity of the region where 
they are to be grown. The stand and growth can be encouraged by 
harrowing the field as soon as the young plants are up, and, even 
when they have reached a growth of from one to two feet, the crop 
can be improved by cultivating with a weeder. This encourages 
rapid growth, hastens maturity and insures a growth of more nu- 
merous and, therefore, finer stems and a greater abundance of leaves. 

It is very often the case that sorghum is cut too green to make 
the best quality of hay. It should not be cut until after the seeds 
have formed and reached the milk stage. It should then be cut at 
once, because, if left longer, these seeds become hard and less di- 
gestible. An excellent way to harvest the crop is to cut with a grain 
binder, placing the bundles in small shocks to cure. The common 
custom is to cut sorghum with a mower, leaving it to cure in the hot 
sun. This robs it of much of its palatability so that a more advisable 
plan is to rake it shortly after cutting and, as soon as it has wilted 
well in the windrow, place it in small sized cocks where it may be 
left to thoroughly cure in the shade. As soon as it has cured suffi- 
ciently, it should be carefully stacked or stored where it will remain 
dry and protected from the elements until it is to be fed. 

The feeding value of saccharine sorghum compares favorably 
with timothy hay. From the standpoint of chemical analysis it is 
quite equal, and practical results secured from its use are even su- 
perior because it is more palatable. The sugar it contains has a very 
beneficial effect upon the digestive apparatus of the animal, and, 
when fed in conjunction with other feeds sufficiently rich in protein 
to balance the ration, its use as hay is much to be advised. One 
point that should be well remembered, however, is that sorghum is 
a carbonaceous feed. The claim is often made that it has a tendency 
to decrease milk flow when fed to dairy cows. Several of these 
claims have been traced down and it has been found that the basis 
for them was that cows had been changed from roughages rich in 
protein to sorghum, without so re-arranging the remainder of the 



Sorghum 153 

ration that the protein content of the ration was kept up to standard. 
Under such circumstances it is only to be expected that cows will 
decrease in their milk flow. This, as will readily be seen, is not 
specifically the fault of sorghum but it is due to a lack of knowledge 
on the part of the feeder relative to the feeding values of different 
roughages, and the demand of cows for materials out of which all 
constituents of milk are made. 

Sorghum, like millet, timothy hay and other low-protein rough- 
ages, is valuable to use where the remainder of feeds, such as alfalfa 
hay and cottonseed meal, are high in protein. In most sections the 
available feeds are largely carbonaceous in character, and legumin- 
nous hays are much more valuable. But, the point in favor of sor- 
ghum is the same as that in favor of millet, when compared with 
timothy hay. A larger tonnage of equally valuable forage can be 
raised on the land where timothy now grows. 

The table given on page 151 gives definite information relative to 
the feeding values of the saccharine and non-saccharine crops in their 
diflferent forms. 



CHAPTER XXII. 

LEGUMES 

Legumes, chief among which are the clover, alfalfa, cowpeas, 
soy beans, vetches, field peas, lespedeza and sweet clover, may be 
roughly classified as those plants that bear pods and gather nitrogen 
from the air. They are the most valuable plants that can be raised 
on the dairy farm. Furthermore, there is hardly a dairy farm in 
America that one or more legumes cannot be successfully grown on. 

The first consideration of any farmer should be that of main- 
taining or even enhancing the richness of his land. Every dairyman 
is imbued w^ith this fact, which is the fundamental reason why many 
farms are devoted to dairying instead of other phases of agriculture. 
One of the greatest values of legumes is that they, like no other 
class of farm crops, aid in enriching the soil while they grow. 

The most quickly exhausted fertility element is nitrogen. Also, 
this is the most expensive to return in the form of commercial fertil- 
izers, costing, as it does, 15c per pound even in normal times. For- 
tunately, it is the cheapest and easiest to return to the soil when 
legumes, that have the power of taking it from the air, are raised. 
As a matter of fact, four-fifths of the air is composed of this valuable 
and essential element; but not until 1886 — when Hellriegel, a Ger- 
man, explained to the world that legumes had the power of taking 
nitrogen from the air and putting it into the soil — was it known how 
to take advantage of the enormous amount of nitrogen over every 
acre of ground and place it in the soil in a form suitable for growing 
future crops. 

If legumes had no other value than this, they would be the most 
profitable crops that could be grown on the farm. It is recorded by 
Jos. E. Wing that in a season's crop of four tons of alfalfa there is 
nitrogen worth $26.40, which has been gathered largely by the bac- 
teria on the roots of the plant. This, however, is not the only fertil- 
izing value, for in the same four tons of alfalfa there is to be found 
potash worth $6.40 and phosphorus worth $2, making a grand total 
of $34.80 that may be credited to this valuable legume for fertility 
made available on one acre in one year. 

On the roots of all legumes that grow successfully and luxur- 
iantly are to be found lumps that are termed nodules, in which live 
millions of bacteria that have the power of taking nitrogen from the 
air, fixing it in the soil and furnishing it to the growing plants. 
Without the existence of nodules on the roots legumes do not grow 



Legumes 155 

well, and, if they did, they would be no more valuable than non- 
leguminous plants for feedii)g purposes, because no nitrogen would 
be gathered from the air to build protein in the plants. 

Potash and phosphorus are not taken from the air, but, because 
of the great depth to which legumes send their numerous roots, these 
two essentials for plant growth are brought to the surface and made 
available for other crops with less root system. 

The final value of the legume as a fertilizer is brought about by 
the decaying of the many fibrous roots, which process adds humus 
to the soil. Humus is not a fertilizing element but its value is physi- 
cal in that it loosens the particles of earth and permits the air to 
enter, warms the soil and adds to its moisture-retaining efficiency. 

Great as are these values, much of the advantage gained by rais- 
ing legumes is lost if they are sold in their raw state, for, although 
they leave as much nitrogen in the soil as is removed by the stems, 
each ton sold ofif the farm carries with it much potash and phos- 
phorus taken from the earth. To be most valuable they n^ust be fed 
to livestock, and the manure returned to the land. In the feeding of 
the legume the direct value becomes. apparent, for the very nitrogen 
stored in the plant represents the protein which is the costly nutrient 
that is so essential in balancing rations, and the necessary nutrient 
from which bone, muscle, blood, hair, horns, and the proteids of 
milk are made. The legume is the only plant which can be grown 
upon the farm to eliminate or even lessen the necessity of purchasing 
high-priced commercial foodstuffs, such as linseed meal, cottonseed 
meal, bran, etc., to balance the ration and furnish protein. By their 
use the farmer can grow nitrogenous feeding material far more 
cheaply than he can purchase it, and every year finds protein feeds 
becoming higher in price, making the raising of legumes the more 
advisable. As an illustration of the feeding value of legumes, it may 
be said that most of them are nearly equal ton per ton to bran, which 
today is so well recognized as a standard foodstuff for farm animals 
that the demand can hardly be supplied, even though the price has 
continually, raised until now it sells for from $22 to $29 per ton. 
Four tons of leguminous hay is not an exceptional annual yield for 
an acre, and compared with bran at prevailing prices the money value 
of a season's crop can easily be estimated. Add to the estimate the 
richness that has been added to the soil by the legumes having 
grown there, and every thoughtful dairyman will put forth his best 
efforts to grow one or more of these nitrogen-gathering plants in the 
future. No dairyman who does not make use of these plants in his 
farming and feeding operations is taking full advantage of the op- 
available feeds are largely carbonaceous in character, and legumi- 



156 Feeding the Dairy Cow 

nous hay and good cows is one that cannot be equalled otherwise. 
Nearly every state experiment station has performed experiments 
that have shown conclusively the value of these crops as compared 
with non-leguminous grasses. 

Although each year finds a great increase in the acreage of 
legumes grown in all parts of the United States, they are not being 
grown as largely as they should be, and millions of acres where tim- 
othy and non-leguminous grasses are now growing should be con- 
verted into protein-producing areas to furnish the balancing power 
for the carbonaceous grains, such as corn, barley, kafir corn and other 
crops, that are so largely and necessarily raised. 

The chief reason, no doubt, that the nitrogen-gathering plants 
are not more universally grown is due to the fact that they are be- 
lieved to be more difficult to raise, more difficult to harvest and less 
likely to withstand hard winters and other adverse conditions. They 
are not more difficult to raise than other crops, provided one recog- 
nizes and follows closely the rules that are essential for securing a 
stand that will grow vigorously. Legumes demand a sv\reet soil and 
the use of much lime. Also, to get a start in life, they prefer a rich 
soil and a well prepared seedbed. Soil that has not previously grown 
legumes does not possess the particular bacteria that live on the rdots 
of these crops. Possessed of this knowledge, he who would grow the 
valuable plant must know that the first thing he should do is to cover 
the field liberally with well-rotted manure — 12 tons per acre is not 
too much. This should be plowed under deeply, and a smooth, firm 
seedbed provided by much harrowing and discing. A better seedbed 
must be prepared for legumes than for most other crops. This is an- 
other advantage in favor of legumes, for all men know that any crop 
will grow better and yield heavier, other things being equal, on a 
well prepared seedbed than on a poorly prepared one. If the soil is 
acid, and seemingly most soils are, leguminous crops will not grow- 
satisfactorily. All crops will yield better on sweet soil than on acid 
soil, therefore, the very fact that these plants demand a correction of 
the acidity is another point in their favor. They render apparent the 
fact that ground limestone should be applied at the rate of two, three 
or even four tons per acre to make farming profitable and the grow- 
ing of legumes possible. 

When the ground is in the proper tilth and the fertility and 
sweetness of it up to standard, then the final preparation for seeding 
is to inoculate either the seed or the soil with that bacteria demanded 
by the specific legume that is to be grown. This is the bugbear that 
causes more failures than any other one factor except the absence of 
lime in the soil. These are the two important factors. The one that 



Legumes 157 

will practice liming and inoculation will succeed, if he is a good 
farmer. All others will fail in nine cases out of ten. The rules for 
growing legumes, so well established by science and practice, must 
be closely followed if one is even to hope for success. 

When a good stand of a perennial legume has been secured, it 
should be protected in a cold climate, where a bed of snow does not 
cover the ground all winter, by top dressing with a light coat of 
manure. Such dressing eliminates alternate freezing and thawing, 
which heaves the roots of the soil, the main reason for winter killing. 
The manure serves a secondary purpose in that it further enriches 
the soil and causes the plants to start earlier in the spring and make 
a more vigorous growth than though they had not been covered. 

In humid climates the harvesting of all legumes is more difi(icult 
than the harvesting of non-leguminous plants, because they produce 
more often. The first crop is ready to cut earlier and usually at a 
rainy season. Because of this, the grower should be specially pre- 
pared for saving his hay crop. The best of hay is always made by 
curing it in the shade, and this is doubly true of legumes. As soon as 
the hay is cut and thoroughly wilted, it should be cocked^ covered 
with hay caps and left to cure sufficiently to store in stacks or barn. 
True, this incurs some expense, but nothing compared with the extra 
value of good hay over poor hay, or leguminous hays over that made 
from non-leguminous grasses. 

All of the legumes are excellent for soiling purposes. Where it 
is possible to grow both alfalfa and clover, proper management will 
make it easy to have green feed from them every day from the time 
they are ready to begin cutting in the spring until frost has killed 
them in the fall. Cowpeas, sweet clover, lespedeza, and field peas 
can be used in the same manner, and, because they are extremely 
palatable and rich in feeding nutrients, they will stimulate a regular, 
persistent, large milk flow and keep the animals eating them in the 
very best possible condition. 

Leguminous grasses are not to be recommended unqualifiedly 
for silage-making purposes. The large arnount of protein they con- 
tain in proportion to carbohydrates is, no doubt, the reason why a 
foul-smelling silage results from their use unless they are allowed 
to almost fully mature before being ensiled. Animals eat them read- 
ily in the form of silage, regardless of the objectionable odor, and 
they prove to be stimulating to large production. The chief objec- 
tion is that because of the penetrating odor the silage is very disagree- 
able to handle. If legumes are to be used for silage-making pur- 
poses, they should be mixed with other materials, such as straw, 
corn, green kafir corn or other crops rich in carbohy4rate5. Used in 



158 Feeding the Dairy Cow 

this manner they are very advisable for supplying the protein which 
is necessary to balance the carbohydrates furnished by the other ma- 
terials, thus assuring a very excellent quality of silage and a well 
balanced, succulent feed. 

The excellence of legumes for feeding purposes, either as hay, 
green feed or as a supplement to other materials for silage, is such 
that one or more of them must be grown on every dairy farm if milk 
production is to be as large and profitable as it should be. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

ALFALFA 

As king of all crops, corn holds the undisputed title, and his 
queen is alfalfa. The farm on which they reign together is an agri- 
cultural kingdom unto itself. There are no foods that can be grown 
or purchased that will provide a basic ration for dairy cattle that will 
exceed this combination. No roughages will grow young stock and 
maintain animals as well, or stimulate so large and economical a 
milk yield. There are no crops easier to grow for the one that knows 
how to grow them, no crops that will co-operate better in maintain- 
ing farm fertility and providing all nutrients necessary for a balanced 
ration, no crops that yield more abundantly year after year, no other 
crops that can be grown so generally over this country and no other 
crops so palatable to dairy cattle. 

The farm that will grow large crops of corn is valuable, the 
farm that will grow large crops of alfalfa successfully is a prize, but 
the farm that will grow both corn and alfalfa abundantly has no su- 
perior on earth for the man who milks cows. This is common knowl- 
edge, and it is rapidly becoming an undisputed fact that nearly every 
farm in the United States will grow corn good enough for silage, at 
least, and alfalfa good enough for hay and soiling purposes ; yet the 
1909 agricultural statistics show that over the entire country only 
4,707,146 acres of alfalfa were grown — and only 183,633 acres of this 
grew east of the Mississippi River — as compared with 14,686,393 
acres of timothy, exclusive of the 19,542,382 acres of land that grew 
timothy mixed with clover. The reason for this poor acreage show- 
ing of alfalfa is that, comparatively speaking, alfalfa is a new crop in 
most sections. There has existed a prejudice against it because of 
a general belief that it could not be successfully grown. This idea 
is rapidly being dispelled in every part of the country by those who, 
realizing the great values of the crop, have succeeded in growing 
it by persistently and intelligently working to secure and maintain 
a stand so that each year the acreage utilized for growing alfalfa is 
doubling and trebling. 

When the next agricultural census is taken the figures relating 
to this important legume will be vastly greater than they were in 
1909. There are many reasons why they should be. From the stand- 
point of the dairyman many reasons exist, even after leaving out of 
consideration the facts, so well known, that alfalfa yields so largely 
per acre and is a most profitable crop to raise ; that as soon as a farm 



160 Feeding the Dairy Cow 

grows alfalfa successfully its selling value increases; and that, like 
other legumes, alfalfa builds up the richness and increases the pro- 
ducing value of the farm instead of depleting the soil and lowering 
its productivity as do all leguminous plants. Alfalfa is the best 
single roughage that can be used for feeding dairy cows. It is very 
palatable, has a favorable physical effect upon the digestive appar- 
atus of the cow, furnishes feeding nutrients cheaply, encourages 
rapid growth of young animals and is especially stimulating to milk 
production. The value of alfalfa as a food where protein and mineral 
matter are necessary is revealed by the chemical analysis compared 
with the composition of timothy hay, which is so frequently grown 
on lands where a good legume, such as alfalfa, should grow. 

Although protein and mineral matter are not the only factors 
denoting value of a foodstuff, it is true that carbohydrates are grown 
most abundantly on most farms. This necessitates the purchasing of 
protein and ash, where leguminous hays are not raised, in order for 
a balanced ration to be provided. Timothy hay, for instance, can be 
used to take the place of a portion of the corn, stover or other car- 
bonaceous feeds usually grown, but it will not sufBce to furnish those 
nutrients for which cottonseed meal, oil meal, gluten feed, bran, etc., 
are purchased to balance up home-grown feeds. Alfalfa, as the table 
on page 162 implies, is nearly twice as valuable as timothy for furnish- 
ing mineral matter and more than three times as rich in protein. This, 
together with the fact that three tons of alfalfa can be grown where 
one ton of timothy now grows, shows the advisalbility of strenuous 
attempts being made to raise alfalfa. 

Not only does the chemist find alfalfa much superior to timothy, 
but experiments demonstrate that cows find the same difference to 
exist. In 1910 an experiment was carried on by the University of 
Illinois to determine as closely as possible the comparative values of 
these two hays. A herd of 16 cows was divided into two lots of eight 
each. The records of feed and milk were kept for 25 weeks — from 
November 26th to May 20th — but as 13 weeks were used for prepar- 
atory and subsequent feeding the real test lasted just 12 weeks. Dur- 
ing this time each lot of cows received alfalfa hay six weeks and tim- 
othy hay the other six weeks. All of the cows received the same 
ration otherwise, which consisted of mixed grains and corn stover. 

After concluding this important test, the following conclusions 
were drawn by Fraser and Hayden : 

"The total amount of milk produced by both lots for the six 
weeks during which they were fed alfalfa was 18,496 pounds and for 
the six weeks fed timothy it was 15,704 pounds. The difference in 
milk between these two periods was 2,792 pounds, which is 834 



Alfalfa 



161 



pounds in favor of each ton of alfalfa over timothy. This total dif- 
ference of 2,792 pounds of milk, at $1.30 per 100 pounds, the price re- 
ceived, was worth $36.30. Three and thirty-four hundredths tons of 
hay were fed during this time. Therefore, in this test, alfalfa hay 
was worth $10.86 per ton more than timothy. The average yields per 
acre obtained in Illinois are approximately four tons of alfalfa hay 
and one and one-half tons of timothy, when figured on the above 
basis. 

"The value of the alfalfa will vary with the price received for 
the milk, and for this reason the following table of values has been 
constructed : 

Shows the Greater Feeding Value of Alfalfa Hay Than of Timothy, 
with Milk at Different Prices 







Value of alfalfa per acre, above 




Value of alfalfa 


timothy when timothy is 


Milk per 


per ton, above 


worth $10 per ton. (Alfalfa 


100 pounds 


timothy 


4 tons per acre; timothy 1J4 
tons per acre.) 


$1.00 


$ 8.36 


$58.44 


1.10 


9.19 


61.76 


1.20 


10.03 


65.12 


1.30 


10.86 


68.44 


1.40 


11.70 


71.80 


1.50 


12.54 


75.16 


1.60 


13.38 


78.52 


1.70 


14.21 


81.84 


1.80 


^^15.06 


85.24 


1.90 


15.88 


88.52 


2.00 


16.72 


91.88 



'Tt must be borne in mind that the above figures can be applied 
to alfalfa only when fed with the feeds used in this test, or with other 
similar feeds." 

At the same experiment station a test was conducted for the 
purpose of comparing the value of alfalfa hay and bran for feeding 
dairy cows, and the conclusions were that alfalfa is equal to or a lit- 
tle better than bran for milk production under the conditions which 
exist on most dairy farms. 

A very important use can be made of alfalfa for soiling pur- 
poses. It grows so rapidly that very early in the spring its use may 
be started. A few acres will soil a large herd of cows all summer 
because by the time the last of the first crop is cut at one end of the 
field the first of the second crop is ready to cut at the other end, and, 
as rapidly as green feed is needed, it is ready to cut in some portion 
of the fiield. There is no other one crop that will furnish, with such 
regularity and such certainty, green feed abundantly every day from 
early spring till late fall as alfalfa. Fed as a soiling crop, it is found 
to be extremely valuable and a very cheap source of feed for tiding 
cows over the hot days of summer drouth, when, of all times of the 
year, they suffer most when not protected from heat and flies and fed 



162 



Feeding the Dairy Cow 



some food supplementary to the pastures that so often afford almost 
no food during such periods. 



Table No. 1 





Digestible Nutrients 


100 pounds 


Moisture 


Dry 

matter 


Ash 


Protein 


Carbo- 
hydrates 


Fat 


Alfalfa hay 

Timothy hay 


8.6 
11.6 


91.4 
88.4 


8.6 
4.9 


10.6 
3.0 


39.0 
42.8 


0.9 
1.2 



The experience of the writer denotes that, properly used, alfalfa 
hay can be fed to excellent advantage not only as a roughage, but, 
when cut into quarter-inch lengths, it may be used in the grain ra- 
tion in substitution for bran and other concentrated protein feeds. 

At the St. Louis World's Fair I had the experience of feeding 
one of the herds that contested in the greatest demonstration that 
has ever been performed for large and economical milk production. 
In view of the fact that prizes were to be awarded on both the 
amount of milk and butterfat yielded and the cheapness with which 
they were produced, it became necessary to select and combine feeds 
that would at once stimulate production that was large and cheap. 
This is really the problem which presents itself on every dairy farm 
in America, so that every feeder's problem is the same as the one 
presented in the instance referred to. 

Chemical analysis shows good alfalfa hay to be practically equal 
to bran. When cut into short pieces and mixed with the grain ration 
it cannot be said to be as palatable as bran and, because of its phy- 
sical character, it does not mix as well in the ration. The problem, 
then, is to prepare the alfalfa so that it will mix readily with the 
other feeds and be equally palatable. In the St. Louis test the cows 
were fed three times daily. Just before feeding them each time, two 
pounds of cut hay per cow was moistened by steaming just suffi- 
ciently to soften the stems and yet not cook them. While yet warm 
the cut alfalfa was mixed thoroughly with the grain. The moisture 
caused the grain particles to adhere to the small pieces of alfalfa 
stems and leaves so that the resulting mass was very bulky and so 
palatable — giving off as it did a very sweet aroma — that without ex- 
ception the cows ate it with avidity. Rapidly they became accus- 
tomed to this ration of grain, made even more palatable and much 
more bulky by mixing it with the alfalfa, so after a time they showed 
little desire to eat a grain ration without cut alfalfa hay mixed with 
it. In this manner the cows were induced to eat six pounds more 
alfalfa hay and much less expensive grain daily. 

Not only was there a saving of grain made but that grain which 
was fed was digested much more thoroughly and efficiently than 



Alfalfa 163 

though it had been fed without the hay. In other words, hay fed in 
this manner has a mechanical value which, in some instances, is al- 
most as great as its chemical value. Ruminating animals do not mas- 
ticate their food as do non-ruminating animals when they first eat 
it. The cow swallows her food as she eats it. When she finds time 
she regurgitates and masticates it. This process we call chewing 
the cud. Where concentrated foods are given without light, bulky 
feeds, mixed with them, they are not completely regurgitated for 
mastication and, because they pass on to the other stomachs with- 
out undergoing this first process of digestion, are never thoroughly 
digested and a portion of them pass on through the digestive canal 
and are wasted — even worse than wasted because they tax the di- 
gestion of the cow without accomplishing anything. When the cut 
hay is fed with the heavier grain, the particles of which adhere to the 
light, chaffy pieces of hay, the entire mass is rendered so light and 
bulky that all the feed is returned to the mouth for mastication, dur- 
ing which process the saliva is mixed with the feed. This starts the 
process of changing the starches into sugar, which is the first and 
preliminary process of digestion which renders thorough and com- 
plete the final digestion and assimilation of the valuable nutrients. 
By following this plan offeeding, one is able to save much expensive 
food that would otherwise be wasted, and the likelihood of overfeed- 
ing cows is practically, if not entirely, eliminated. 

It is not always that steam is available for moistening and soft- 
ening the stems but hot water may be used, or, better yet, water in 
which molasses has been mixed at the rate of one quart of molasses 
to two gallons of water. By thoroughly moistening the cut hay in 
this manner and mixing it with the grain, one of the very best and 
cheapest feeds possible to provide can be prepared. If I were asked 
to name one principle of feeding most conducive to large and eco- 
nomical production, which at the same time would have a tendency 
to protect the persistency, health and future usefulness of the cow, I 
would say that, greater than all other principles, provided a suitable 
and an abundant ration was being fed, the mixing of some moistened 
roughage, a leguminous hay preferable, cut or chaffed, w4th the grain 
ration at the rate of from four to six pounds daily is the best. To 
utilize this plan requires some effort, and to accomplish it with ex- 
pediency requires a large box in which the rations can be mixed, but 
it is well worth the effort, especially where conditions are such that 
the grain cannot be fed mixed with the silage or other roughages. 
Fed in this manner there is little doubt that alfalfa hay is at least 
equal in feeding value to the best of bran. 



164 Feeding the Dairy Cow 

The conclusion should not be drawn from this that all hay 
should be fed in a cut or chaffed form. Experience denotes that 
cows appreciate a portion of their hay in regular lengths and, seem- 
ingly, other than that portion which is mixed with grain, unchaffed 
hay is more palatable and eaten with greater avidity. In this form it 
is doubtful if alfalfa hay is quite as valuable as bran, but it is so 
nearly equal in feeding value and chemical analysis that its useful- 
ness can well be understood. 

There is a belief that a vast difference in feeding value exists 
with regard to the different cuttings of hay, but whatever difference 
there may be is accounted for largely by the relative amounts of the 
hay eaten and wasted because of its physical condition. Hay differs 
greatly as a result of the manner in which it has been cured and pre- 
served. Only two-fifths of the total weight of the alfalfa plant is in 
the leaves, yet three-fifths of all the protein contained in the plant is 
found in them. One hundred pounds of stems contain no more pro- 
tein than 44 pounds of leaves, and, furthermore, because the leaves 
are the most palatable portion of alfalfa, it is readily seen that the 
hay which contains the largest amount of leaves in proportion to the 
stems, regardless of w^hether it is the first, second or third cutting, 
is the most valuable. It is a plan followed by some feeders, who at- 
tempt to make large records, to shake the leaves from the stem, 
feeding them, to the cows on test, feeding the remaining portions of 
the plant to young animals that are not working or to other animals 
on the farm. 

Analysis shows alfalfa leaves to be richer in feeding nutrients 
than bran, and experience shows them to be even more valuable for 
feeding purposes. Alfalfa that has been exposed to the elements 
contains much less feeding value than alfalfa that has been properly 
cured and well stored. 

At the Colorado Agricultural Experiment Station it was shown 
that as much as 40 per cent of the feeding value of alfalfa hay is lost 
by two weeks' exposure to rain, and that the percentage of protein 
may be decreased nearly 8 per cent. 

The feeder who has a clear knowledge of the true feeding value 
of alfalfa hay as compared with timothy and other non-leguminous 
hays can readily appreciate that it is much wiser to grow alfalfa in- 
stead of timothy, and where, for some reason or other, timothy is 
grown instead, it is only the part of wisdom to market the timothy 
and invest the proceeds in alfalfa hay or some other legurhinous 
roughage to use for feeding purposes. As a matter of fact, it is the 
height of folly and an evidence of thoughtlessness for one who is 
feeding for large and economical production of milk and butterfat to 



Alfalfa 165 

utilize timothy and other non-leguminous hays in the feeding oper- 
ations, provided the other feeds grown on the farm and used in 
feeding the cows are carbonaceous, such as corn, corn silage, corn 
stover, oats, barley, etc. 

Very often the feeder finds opportunity to purchase alfalfa meal, 
in the absence of a supply of alfalfa hay. As a rule, the choicest al- 
falfa hay grown in the west, where moisture is provided by irriga- 
tion, is used for manufacturing alfalfa meal. Where such is the case, 
alfalfa meal provides a very excellent feed, but the cost of it is much 
greater than the cost of growing alfalfa or the cost of buying it in 
baled form shipped in from those sections where it is so largely 
grown. As a supplement to bran and other protein feeds, however, 
it is a very advisable food to use for adding mineral matter, proteip 
and bulk to the ration, and, when it can be purchased at a reasonable 
price mixed with molasses, it adds palatability and proves itself a 
very useful and advisable foodstuff. 

The far-sighted dairyman is the one who provides corn silage 
and alfalfa hay is a basic ration for his herd. Even though he is com- 
pelled to purchase either one or both of these feeds, he cannot afford 
to be without them. 

The 1,000-pouTid cow that will eat daily 40 pounds of corn silage 
and 15 pounds of alfalfa hay will secure without other roughage or 
grain enough nutriment to maintain her body and yield approxi- 
mately 20 pounds of 4 per cent milk daily. If she is nourishing a 
foetus, it will be better to consider this a sufficient amount of food 
for maintaining the cow and producing 15 pounds of milk. For cows 
yielding more largely it is necessary to feed a less amount of rough- 
age and supplement it with an equally well balanced grain ration in 
amounts according to her yield. 

It is sometimes asked why it is necessary to feed concentrates at 
all when, by properly combining leguminous hay and corn silage, a 
balanced ration is provided. It is true that a balanced ration is 
formulated as far as the proportion of digestible nutrients 
is concerned, but it is not balanced with regard to the per- 
centage of digestible nutrients in proportion to the indigestible nu- 
trients and moisture. So bulky are corn silage and alfalfa hay, be- 
cause of the large content of water contained in the former and the 
large proportion of indigestible material contained in the latter, that 
a cow producing an extremely large flow of milk does not have suffi- 
cient capacity to eat enough of these foods to provide the necessary 
amount of digestible nutrients for maintaining her own body and 
manufacturing the milk. Therefore, it is necessary to feed in con- 
junction with these roughages the proper amount of foods contain- 



166 Feeding the Dairy Cow 

ing the right proportion of feeding nutrients to stimulate production 
larger than 15 or 20 pounds of 4 per cent milk daily. However, so 
much less concentrated and expensive foods are necessary that he 
who' does not avail himself of silage and leguminous hays is not in 
position to compete with the manufacturer of milk and butterfat who 
does. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

SWEET CLOVER 

In a great many respects the most valuable legume is sweet 
clover. This does not signify that where alfalfa and common clov- 
ers can be and are being grown, largely and successfully, sweet 
clover should be substituted for them, although there are many in- 
stances nowadays where farmers, who once believed sweet clover to 
be one of the most noxious weeds, are growing it in preference to ali 
other legumes. 

It is less valuable than alfalfa hay because it is only a biennial and 
must be re-seeded every other year or permitted to re-seed itself. It 
does not yield as heavily. It is not as readily eaten by livestock. It 
makes a hay that is coarse in character, not so readily eaten, and be- 
cause of its coarse stems far greater waste is experienced in feeding 
it. A comparison of sweet clover with the common clovers calls forth 
the same objections to sweet clover except that it yields more largely 
and does not need to be seeded any more often. 

On the other hand, sweet clover possesses many commendable 
qualities which other legumes do not. In content of feeding nutri- 
ents, both in the green state and as hay, it may be considered the 
equal of alfalfa. Objection is frequently voiced against it by those 
who have not had experience, and it is condemned by them with the 
charge that cows will not eat it. There is no logical basis for this 
charge because experience conclusively proves that all livestock will 
eat sweet clover in both the green state and as hay, with much avid- 
ity, after they have acquired a taste for it. It is true that it has a 
bitter taste due to the cumarin which it contains, and animals that 
are well fed refuse to eat it at first. 

Instead of this characteristic being altogether objectionable, it 
has been found to be a point quite in favor of sweet clover when used 
for grazing purposes. It has been learned that cattle are much less 
liable to bloat on sweet clover than on any other form of legume. In 
fact, so few have been the cases of bloat that have occurred from pas- 
turing this legume that there are many who claim that the cumarin 
eliminates all danger from this source. The few exceptions to this 
rule indicate, however, that some care should be taken in pasturing 
valuable cattle on sweet clover when it is wet and the cattle accus- 
tomed to it, because bloat caused by it is within the range of possi- 
bility. 

It is true that cattle must acquire an appetite for sweet clover. 
This, however, is not sufficient cause for condemning it as a food- 



168 . Feeding the Dairy Cow 

stuff, for the same charge may be made against many other feeds. 
The steer brought from the range refuses to eat corn when it is first 
placed before him, and very often a week or ten days is required to 
teach him that corn is palatable and useful. This is no reason for 
claiming that corn is not a valuable feed for range steers, but it is 
quite as reasonable as the claim that sweet clover is not useful for 
feeding cows. 

In the spring sweet clover comes on and grows vigorously be- 
fore any other crop. It is ready for grazing so early that animals 
hungry for fresh, green food may be turned on it before any other 
frtsh succulence is available. When this is done, even the most fas- 
tidious cow will learn to eat it at once and increase in flow accord- 
ingly. After grazing a few days upon it, one will note that the ma- 
jority of cows prefer it to "almost any other kind of green food. 
Sweet clover is especially valuable for grazing purposes in th^ hot, 
dry spells of summer. Being drought-resistant in character, sweet 
clover grows luxuriantly, even when severe droughts appear, and 
when all other pastures are dry and worthless the sWeet clover pas- 
ture provides an abundance of feed, if it has been properly cared for 
and protected from over-pasturing earlier in the season. It will then 
be found that all cows will eat it with much relish, and the milk flow 
which otherwise would diminish so extremely will be held up Well 
throughout the drought period. If sweet clover were used for ho 
other purpose than to provide pasturage early in the spring, during 
drought seasons and late in the fall, it would be worthy of a place 
on most dairy farms. 

For soiling purposes, sweet clover is valuable because, on ac- 
count of its rapid and persistent growth, it can be cut often, and pro- 
vides an abundance of green food from early spring until late fall. 
When cows have learned to eat it well, there is much doubt if any 
other crop, except alfalfa, is as valuable for this purpose. 

For hay-making, there is but one objection to be lodged against 
sweet clover and that is rather a serious one. Even though it is cut 
very young, the stems become hard and brittle, when made into hay 
and are largely wasted because of their unpalatable nature. A lim- 
ited amount of this hay may be used to advantage by cutting it into 
quarter-inch lengths, softening it with hot water, steam or. diluted 
molasses and then mixing it with the grain ration. Fed in this man- 
ner, a very bulky, palatable ration rich in expensive protein is pro- 
vided and excellent results can be secured, if from six to ten pounds 
daily of sweet clover hay is fed. 

It is the general belief that sweet clover is a very easy crop to 
grow, because, as a weed along roadsides, it flourishes as does no 



Sweet Clover 169 

other plant. A most peculiar characteristic of this weed, however, 
is that it is seldom seen growing on the inside of a fence. This does 
not indicate that sweet clover is a respecter of fences or that it has 
any aversion to growing where it is not desired. It does indicate that 
where the land has been cropped continuously, the condition of the 
soil is not perfectly suitable for its growth, and that lime and inocu- 
lation must be added to the fields, quite as this is necessary for grow- 
ing alfalfa, before it will grow successfully there. When used for 
pasture purposes, unless care is taken to prevent them doing so, cat- 
tle will eat the sweet clover so close to the ground and keep it so 
closely cropped that they will kill it. In order to have sweet clover 
as a part of any pasture, where other grasses are grown, it is neces- 
sary to seed it each spring. This shows quite conclusively that when 
animals have learned to eat sweet clover they will not permit it to 
re-seed itself even though the other grasses furnish an abundant 
food. 

In conclusion, it may be said that the chief value of sweet clover 
is that it adapts itself readily to many soils that refuse to grow other 
legumes, and, by growing it there, the soil undergoes the most ex- 
cellent preparation that can be provided for making it suitable to 
grow other legumes later. During the process of this preparation, 
the sweet clover raised can be used to excellent advantage for pas- 
turage and soiling purposes and in substitution for other roughages 
and protein feeds when it is made into hay and so prepared that it is 
rendered edible. 



'lii 



CHAPTER XXV. 

CLOVER 



Every man who feeds cows knows that clover hay, cut at the 
right stage of growth, properly cured and well preserved, is the best 
roughage he can secure for feeding all classes of dairy cattle. 

For stimulating large milk production, alfalfa is recognized as 
superior to clover. For feeding young growing calves, clover is pref- 
erable because there is always danger of scours which may be en- 
couraged by the use of alfalfa. Herd sires, dry cows and young heif- 
ers that are often fed roughage only for long periods of time will 
thrive more satisfactorily as a rule on cloVer than on alfalfa. 

In every part of the United States some variety of clover can be 
grown successfully and it yields abundantly, yet the total acreage 
amounts to only 2,443,263, or about one-half that devoted to alfalfa, 
according to the United States Year Book statistics of 1909. Six 
times as large an area is devoted to the growing of timothy as to the 
growing of the much more valuable clover crop. To the question 
of why this is the case there can be but one answer: "It is easier to 
grow, harvest and store timothy, and men will persist in following 
the lines of least resistance." 

In 1909 there were 19,542,382 acres of land in the United States 
on which timothy and clover grew together, but the rule is that 
where this is the case the preponderance of the crop is timothy 
rather than clover. As a feed for dairy cattle timothy hay is greatly 
improved by the clover that grows with it, but clover hay is vastly 
decreased in value by the timothy hay that grows with it. The fol- 
lowing table shows conclusively that the mineral matter, the protein 
and the fat — the most essential nutrients for growth and for stimu- 
lating milk production — increase as the percentage of clover increases 
and the percentage of timothy decreases. 



• 


1 
Digestible Nutrients 


100 pounds 


Dry 

matter 


Ash 


Protein 


Carbo- 
hydrates 


Fat 


Timothy hay 

Timothy Ys, clover l4 

Timothy H, clover J^ 

Timothy Vi, clover 36 

Clover hay (red) 


88.4 
87.9 
87.7 
87.6 
87.1 


4.9 
5.6 
6.0 
6.4 
7.1 


3.0 
4.5 
5.3 
6.0 
7.6 


42.8 
41.7 
41.0 
40.5 
39.3 


1.2 
1.4 
1.5 
1.6 
1.8 



It is the fifeneral belief that securing a good stand of clover is 
difficult and that, even though a stand is secured it may succumb to 
the rigors oi a hard winter. Therefore, it has become customary to 



Clover 171 

seed timothy with clover so that if the clover fails the timothy will 
come on and eliminate an entire crop failure. A better way for fur- 
nishing dairy roughage with certainty would be to seed the clover 
alonCy observing closely the rules for securing and maintaining a 
successful stand and then, in event failure results from any cause, 
re-seed the land with such annuals as oats and field peas, cowpeas, 
soy beans, sorghum, or other plants that will provide larger ton- 
nages of better roughage for feeding dairy animals than timothy hay. 

Another reason for seeding timothy with clover is that timothy, 
being a perennial, lives long after clover, which is a biennial, ceases 
to grow, thus giving a more permanent meadow. This is not good 
reasoning, however, because two years is really long enough for any 
field, other than those the nature of which render them useful only 
for pastures, to remain in a single crop where large yields of farm 
crops and efficient conservation of fertility are, as they should be, 
the aims in view. 

For pasturing purposes, clover ranks well, and at least one va- 
riety of this useful legume should be kept growing in every pasture 
provided for grazing dairy cattle. It is palatable, furnishes abun- 
dantly the protein lacking in non-leguminous grasses, furnishes va- 
riety and aids the growth of grasses by storing nitrogen in the soil. 
For these reasons it is well to sow clover seed over permanent pas- 
tures each alternate year, or, better, each year, at the time when 
frost is leaving the ground. There is danger of cattle bloating on 
clover and, although this danger is less than from alfalfa, cattle 
should be well fed with dry roughage until such time as they become 
accustomed to eating the clover, and even then the herd should be 
frequently observed that the occasional case of bloat which is always 
liable to occur can be treated before it is too late. 

As a soiling crop, clover is second only to alfalfa, and, used for 
this purpose in conjunction with green alfalfa, it is possible to pro- 
vide the best of green feed throughout the entire summer without 
the use of any other soiling crops. By the use of these leguminous 
green feeds, supplemented with summer silage, cows under com- 
fortable conditions may be kept producing most largely and profit- 
ably, provided concentrates are fed in amounts according to the pro- 
ducing ability of the individuals composing the herd. 

Like other legumes, clover ensiled makes a silage that is palat- 
able but, because of the strong, disagreeable odor it develops, its use 
for this purpose is not to be advised. Very often it happens that the 
second crop is ready to cut at silage filling time and weather condi- 
tions make it impossible to cure it into good hay. In such cases it 
is advisable to ensile it with corn at the rate of one load of clover to 



•172 Feeding the Dairy Cow 

each two loads of green corn. When conditions permit, however, it 
is more wise to utilize clover for hay-making purposes because qows 
need dry matter as well as succulence and the silo room is better for 
preserving other roughage that is more difficult to store in any other 
way. 

Medium red clover is generally grown, and as a rule it is the va- 
riety considered, but there are other kinds that under certain condi 
tions and in certain sections are grown instead. 

Alsike clover is preferable for wet land and will grow on "soils 
more acid than will red clover, but, because of its weak stems and 
its consequent tendency to lodge, it is not often used where red 
clover can be successfully grown. ' 

Marnmoth clover gives a much larger yield than red clover,^ but, 
because it grows so rank and develops such coarse stems, it is less 
palatable to cattle, and the result is much more waste in fe'edi'ng. 
This objection may be partially overcome by pasturing it eady in 
the spring and permitting it to mature later when weathei* condi- 
tions are less conducive to extensive growth. 

In the far eastern states, crimson clover seems to thrive better 
than other varieties and it provides excellent roughage when ciit 'at 
the right stage, which is just prior to the time when the small, prick- 
ly hairs of the blossoms and of the stems begin to harden and becc>ihe 
wiry. 

In the southern states, burr clover is recognized as a very val- 
uable supplement to pasture grasses, and in many sections of the 
south, where it is once introduced into pastures, it continues year 
after year to make its appearance. Because of its 'Ibw-gl'bvi^Vhg na- 
ture, it is not often used for soiling or for hay making.' 

"' In the western coast states, recently, a clover termed "Eureka 
has come into considerable prominence and because it yields so 
largely and provides very palatable protein roughage, it promises to 
become prevalently grown and very useful to dairymen in^that sec- 
tipn. 

The accompanying comparison of the feeding values of the sev- 
eral most important varieties of clovers, compiled from Henry and 
Morrison's "Feeds and Feeding," illustrates their worth to the dairy- 
man : .1 



100 pounds 



1. Clover (Medium Red). 

2. Clover (Alsike) 

3. Clover (Crimson) . . . . 

4. Clover (Mammoth) .., 

5. Clover (Burr) ....... 

6. Clover (Sweet- White) 

7. Clover (Sweet-Yellow) 



Dry 

matter 



87.1 
87.7 
89.4 
81.3 
93.0 
91.4 
91.3 



Clover 



173 



i 


Digestible Nutrients 




Ash 


Protein 


Carbo- 
hydrates 


Fat 


1 


7.1 
8.3 
8.8 
6.2 
10.8 
7.2 
6.0 


7.6 
7.9 
9.7 
6.4 
15.6 
10 9 


39.3 
36.9 
36.8 
37.2 
42.8 
38 2 


1 8 


2. 


1 1 


3 


1 


4 


1 8 


5 


2 


6. ... 


0.7 
0.5 


7 


10.0 


35'.9 



A comparison of the feeding value of the various clovers with 
the more commonly grown non-leguminous forage plants should 
show in an impressive manner the advisability of growing clover or 
other legumes for the purpose of supplying mineral matter and pro- 
tein in the cow's ration with home-grown feeds and in the cheapest 
manner. Such a comparison even indicates that if one raises rough- 
ages that are low in these important nutrients it would be but the 
part of good business to sell them and invest the money in legumi- 
nous roughages. To secure large and profitable milk production and 
acceptable growth in young animals, protein and ash in certain well 
defined amounts are absolutely necessary. If they are not grown in 
grasses or grains, then they must be purchased through the feed 
dealer in by-product feeds, grains or leguminous hays. 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

SOY BEANS 

For more than a century soy beans have been successfully 
grown in China and Japan. So rich are the seeds of the plant in pro- 
tein and fat that they are there, largely used as human food, and of 
late years vast tonnages have been brought to our western coast 
states where the use of soy beans as a food for livestock has opened 
a steady market. For the past 20 years soy beans have been grown 
in the southern and western parts of the United States. Although in 
many instances they have been raised to maturity for grain and seed 
purposes, they are generally grown for silage and forage purposes. 

There are certain characteristics possessed by this leguminous 
plant which insure a more extensive use of it among dairy farmers 
who strive to raise on the farm as large a portion as possible of the 
feed required by their animals. As a substitute for clover and alfalfa 
the soy bean is especially valuable, because late in the spring when 
it has been learned that the clover seeding is a failure, enough time 
remains to seed and grow a crop of soy beans, which, if harvested as 
soon as the pods begin to form, provide excellent roughage contain- 
ing a larger per cent of protein than alfalfa hay and much more than 
clover. This is especially true if carefully harvested to avoid losing 
the leaves which contain more nutriment than the stems. The one 
objection to soy beans as a hay crop is the coarseness and woodi- 
ness of the stem. This can be overcome, however, by proper seeding. 

As a crop for the silo the soy bean has not proven altogether 
satisfactory where used as the sole crop. At the Wisconsin Experi- 
ment Station many experiments have been conducted, and the results 
indicated that corn silage or silage made from a mixture of corn 
and soy beans was much more advisable for several reasons. Most 
of the cows did not relish the soy bean silage as well as that made 
from corn, and some of them absolutely refused to eat of the soy 
bean silage, making it necessary to substitute hay and concentrated 
foods. Less tonnage of nutriment was obtained from an acre of soy 
beans than from an acre of corn ; the former yielded 16,950 pounds ; 
the latter 30,400 pounds. As is the case with silage made from most 
leguminous crops, an odor developed that was disagreeable for cow 
and man alike. There was a waste of soy bean stems and the cows 
decreased in milk flow. In addition to these objections it was found 
that soy bean silage had a detrimental eflfect upon the quality of 
milk, butter and cheese. 



Soy Beans 175 

This latter objection was very noticeable. It was further 
found at the same station that these objections did not apply to sil- 
age made from corn and soy beans mixed. The mixed silage was 
eaten with relish, and no deleterious effects were noticed in the qual- 
ity of milk or cream yielded. As a matter of fact, many experiment 
stations recommend very highly the use of soy beans for the pur- 
pose of supplementing and adding protein to corn silage. Where the 
soy beans and corn are grown separately, it is usually advised that 
one ton of soy beans be placed in the silo with two tons of green 
corn. 

Although it is usually recommended that soy beans be grown 
separately for making corn-soy bean silage, it is possible to raise 
them together. By the use of a separate attachment on the corn 
planter the beans may be planted at the same time. Where corn is 
drilled in, it may be planted first and with smaller plates in the 
planter box the soy beans may be drilled in the same rows at a depth 
of from one to two inches. On fertile soil they grow upright and by 
the time the corn is ready to harvest the plants are between three 
and four feet high, so that, by the use of the corn binder, they may 
be readily harvested with the corn. 

Silage made from the crop grown in this manner is much richer 
in protein than common corn silage and much more stimulating to 
milk production. Even as far north as loAva and southern Minne- 
sota this plan is an advisable one. 

In climates where soy beans may be raised to maturity and the 
seeds harvested, they have proved a very profitable crop, there being 
always a large demand. The yield varies, according to the character 
of the land and the climatic conditions, from 10 to 30 bushels per 
acre, and they sell readily for from $1.50 to $2 per bushel. 

It is only this high price which prohibits their use for feeding 
farm animals, because their feeding value approaches very closely 
that of oil meal. 

As a soiling crop, soy beans provide a large tonnage of very 
palatable green feed but, because it is necessary to seed them rather 
late in the spring after the soil has become thoroughly warm, they 
do not provide soiling until about the middle of August. 

They yield from five to ten tons of green feed per acre and, be- 
cause of their richness in protein, they are excellent for feed, and 
their power to resist heat and drouth makes them a comparatively 
sure crop. They provide good pastures before cutting, but if the crop 
is cut for hay or silage little pasturage is secured afterwards. Under 
favorable conditions early varieties of soy beans will mature in from 
90 to 100 days. 



176 Feeding the Dairy Cow / 

I 

The Ohio Experiment Station recommends as the most advisable 
variety to grow in the northern latitude the medium green, the only 
objection to it being that, if allowed to ripen, the seeds shatter off 
and are wasted. The Ito San variety is presumed to be the second 
best, but does not yield so heavily of forage for roughage purposes. 
The medium yellow produces about the same amount of seed and an 
amount of forage between that of the former varieties. Other va- 
rieties mature later, and is not advisable to grow them except for 
late green feed and for plowing under to replenish the fertility of the 
soil. 

It is generally known that the richer the soil and the more fav- 
orable the climate the greater the yield of forage, though not neces- 
sarily a greater yield of seed. Throughout the corn belt soy beans 
will grow luxuriantly. In seeding, the bed should be prepared much 
as for corn. Being a warm-weather plant, soy beans should not be 
planted until all danger of frost is past and then it is more advis- 
able to drill, placing the seeds at a depth of one or two inches, than 
to broadcast. If the crop is to be grown for seed, the rows should 
be from 24 to 30 inches apart, but if grown for hay or soiling, the 
rows should be much closer to insure finer quality. 

A common grain drill may be used for seeding. It may be set 
to seed from one and one-half to two bushels of seed per acre where 
it is to be used for green feed or hay, but where planted for growing 
seed or making silage, from two to four pecks per acre will be suffi- 
cient. When planted in rows the cultivation may be much the same 
as for corn, but where the seeding is solid the plants must be left to 
take care of themselves after they have come through the ground. 

To secure the greatest value from the plant for hay-making pur- 
poses it should be cut and cured as soon as the pods begin to form. 
If allowed to remain growing longer the stems become woody and 
the leaves and grain begin to fall. In humid climates it is rather dif- 
ficult to cure. It is advisable to cut with a mower in the morning 
after the dew has left the plant, allowing the swaths to remain for 
two or three days, when the hay should be raked up in windrows, 
cocked and allowed to stand for several days until cured sufficiently 
so that no water can be wrung from the stems when twisted in the 
hands. The plants will stand a considerable amount of rain after 
cutting without becoming completely spoiled. They are harvested 
in much the same manner for threshing, except that they are al- 
lowed to remain growing in the field. 



CHAPTER XXVII. 

COVVPEAS 

Cowpeas, as well as soy beans, are more largely grown in the 
southern states than farther north, so that from the experiment sta- 
tions of these sections more information is derived. The University 
of Tennessee is authority for the following facts : "The soy bean 
may be advantageously sown earlier as well as later in the season 
than the cowpea. Germination and thrifty growth should follow in 
weather too cool for the cowpea, which should not be sown until 
warm weather is fully established or, in this latitude, from the mid- 
dle to the last of May. Light frosts, which are sufficient to kill cow- 
peas and other tender plants, do not afifect soy beans either when 
young or old. The best early varieties when planted in April mature 
their seed about six wxeks earlier than the Whippoorwill cowpea, a 
matter of special importance in pasturing. A stand of cowpeas is 
more certain than a stand of soy beans. This is due chiefly to two 
causes: (1) Soy beans may fail to come up through a soil crust 
which would offer little resistance to cowpeas ; (2) the germination 
of the cowpea seed is surer than that of the soy bean seed, which is 
liable to be spoiled by heating. The cowpea is, therefore, superior 
for seeding broadcast, especially on land which is heavy and apt to 
'bake' or which has been poorly prepared. 

''The cowpea is much better suited than the soy bean for plant- 
ing either with sorghum or corn whether for forage or for soil im- 
provement purposes. According to the station's trials the standard 
bush pea, the Whippoorwill, is a good climber when planted with 
corn for silage, and under such conditions outyields in both vine and 
fruit any variety of soy beans. 

"Cowpea hay is more easily cured by the methods in common 
use, without excessive loss of either leaves or fruit, than soy bean 
hay. 

"A second growth, which sometimes amounts to a fair crop, 
may be obtained from cowpeas after they are cut for hay, but not 
from soy beans. 

''The important conditions under which the cowpea is prefer- 
able to the soy bean are (1) when planted with either corn or sor- 
ghum; and (2) for seeding broadcast, under the present average 
farm conditions. The soy bean, on the other hand, appears more 
valuable than the cowpea (1) as a grain producer, whether to be pas- 
tured ofif or to be threshed and ground for general feeding purposes; 



178 



Feeding the Dairy Cow 



(2) as an intensive farm crop, desirable where the best methods of 
farming are practiced, in which case it may be grown to advantage 
either early or late in the season for both hay and grain, and may be 
used incidentally as an especially good cleansing crop, because cul- 
tivations can easily be continued until the ground is well shaded ; 
and (3) as an early hay or grain crop, for which purpose the early 
and medium varieties will produce either hay or seed several weeks 
ahead of any variety of cowpeas which has been tested at the sta- 
tion." 

In northern climates early varieties of cowpeas must be se- 
lected, and chief among these are the Whippoorwills and the New 
Eras, each of which will produce largely of green feed and forage 
but, as a rule, do not mature for threshing a grain crop. Both cow- 
peas and soy beans being such luxuriant growers, yielding in the 
neighborhood of 20,000 pounds of green food, 3,000 pounds of dry 
substance and about 500 pounds of protein per acre, a trial of a few 
acres at least should be made. In addition to the above values, the 
fact that they replenish soil fertility will make them well worth 
considering in rotating crops. 

Canada Field Peas 
In the northern latitudes, a crop equally advisable and one which 
will meet with more favor is the Canada field pea. This crop is very 
extensively grown in Canada. It is not uncommon to obtain yields 
varying from 20 to 40 bushels per acre. These peas are very rich in 
protein, containing about 16.8 per cent in a digestible form. To pro- 
vide a forage crop Canada peas are usually sown with oats at the 
rate of about a bushel and a half each per acre or, what may be more 
advisable, about seven pecks of peas and about five pecks of oats. 
Canada peas stand cold weather and frost admirably so that, in or- 
der to give them an excellent start, they should be drilled two or 
three inches deep as early as possible in the spring. Later the oats 
may be broadcast and harrowed in. This gives the peas an oppor- 
tunity to mature to a greater extent than where the oats and peas are 
seeded at the same time. Like oats, the Canada pea is a rapid grower. 



Digestible Nutrients 



Pounds 
DryMatter 



Pounds 

Ash 



Pounds 
Protein 



Carbo- 
hydrates 



Fat 



Corn silage 

Corn and clover silage.... 
Com and soy bean silage. . 

Oat and pea silage 

Sorghum and cowpea silage 

Alfalfa hay 

Cowpea hay 

Soy bean hay 

Field pea hay 

Oat and pea bay 



26.3 
28.6 

24.7 
27.5 



1.7 
2.2 
2.0 
2.8 
2.2 
8.6 
11.9 
8.6 
7.9 
7.i 



1.1 

2.1 

1.6 

2.8 

0.9 

10.6 

13.1 

11.7 

12.2 

8.3 



15.0 
15.9 
13.8 
12.6 
16.6 
39.0 
33.7 
39.2 
40.1 
37.1 



0.7 
0.7 
0.8 
1.0 
9.6 
0.9 
1.0 
1.2 
1.9 
1.5 



COWPEAS 179 

and by seeding the latter part of March the crop is ready to harvest 
the latter part of June of the first of July. By successive seedings, 
oats and peas may be seeded up to the middle of May or the first of 
June, providing green feed throughout the summer. 

That portion of the crop which is not used for soiling may be 
harvested at the time the oats are in the dough stage and an excel- 
lent quality of hay is easily cured. Hay made from Canada peas and 
oats sown as suggested is almost as valuable for feeding dairy cows 
and other farm animals as clover hay. The yield per acre varies 
from 15,000 to 25,000 pounds of green food; from a ton to a ton and 
a half of dry hay and from 300 to 500 pounds of digestible protein. 
The most serious objection that may be lodged against the Canada 
pea is that it does not stand hot or dry weather as well as do either 
cowpeas or soy beans. In latitudes north of the middle of Iowa 
early seedings may be well matured before severe drouths occur, and 
in all likelihood oats and Canada peas will prove the most desirable 
substitute where the clover crop is lost. South of this latitude, the 
cowpea and soy bean will take precedence. In southern Illinois, 
where fall wheat is largely grown, the practice is often followed of 
breaking up the ground after harvesting the wheat, seeding to cow- 
peas and securing from a ton to a ton and a half of excellent hay 
during the late summer months. Illustrative of the value of these 
leguminous hays and the seeds from them as compared with other* 
farm crops and commercial feeds with which the readers are most 
familiar, the table on the preceding page shows the dry matter, ash and 
digestible nutrients in 100 pounds of these different feeds. 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 

OTHER LEGUMINOUS ROUGHAGES 

Vetches 

In addition to the legumes that are so commonly known, there 
are a few that can be raised in certain sections to advantage because 
of soil and climatic conditions. Although these are not of general 
importance, the value of them should be known and recognized by 
those who should grow and use them. Chief among these are the 
vetches. There are many varieties but only two that are especially 
useful as roughages for dairy cattle in this country. 

Common Vetch 

The common vetch is an annual much like the garden pea. Its 
stems are more slender and taller, usually growing from three to five 
feet high. The flowers are violet purple as a rule, but sometimes 
white. The pods which bear four or five grey seeds, are brown and 
at maturity they readily coil and discharge the seed. 

There are both spring and summer strains of common vetch. 
The winter variety is largely grown in western Oregon where it is 
usually sown in the fall and it is now known as Oregon winter vetch. 

On the western coast, common vetch is grown to a large extent 
as a winter crop with oats, barley or wheat for hay and pasturage. 
It is useful only in mild climates, for it does not stand the hot, humid 
summers nor cold winters. A temperature below 10 degrees Fah- 
renheit causes winter killing of common vetch. Its use, therefore, 
is limited to the western coast and southern states. In these sec- 
tions it thrives on well drained land and is often used in the fruit 
districts of southern California as a soil improver, for, like other 
legumes, it has the power of transferring nitrogen from the air to 
the soil. 

If sown alone common vetch should be broadcast or drilled on 
a well prepared, firm seedbed at the rate of one bushel of seed per 
acre. Where seeded with oats, as is most advisable for grazing or 
haymaking purposes, one-half bushel of vetch seed sown with 20 
pounds of oats will provide a suitable stand, although on extra good 
/and it is common practice to seed as high as 60 pounds of vetch 
seed and 40 pounds of oats. For winter grazing and early soilage 
common vetch is sown in September and October. If it is not grazed 
during the winter it is ready to feed about the first of May and may 
be cut for hay by the first of June. It may be sown in February or 
March and is then ready to cut by the middle of June or the first of 



Other Leguminous Roughages 181 

July. Common vetch is one of the most useful legumes that can be 
raised in the west and in the southern states for winter grazing and 
for early spring feed, and is especially valuable for this purpose 
where seeded with oats. 

In some sections common vetch seems to become naturally in- 
oculated, but where it has not been previously grown it is as neces- 
sary to inoculate for it as for any other legumes. Unless inoculation 
is practiced, by transferring soil from a field that has successfully 
grown vetches or by treating the seeds « with commercial culture, 
failure in securing and maintaining a stand will likely result. 

Hairy Vetch 

Hairy vetch, also known as sand vetch^ Russian vetch, Siberian 
and Hungarian vetch^ differs from the common vetch in that 
it is a biennial if planted in the spring and is a much hardier variety. 
Its flowers are white and its seeds, which are only half as large as 
the seeds of common vetch, are nearly black and shatter much more 
readily than those of common vetch. Hairy vetch grows wherever 
common yetch does and withstands the winters in every 
section of the United States, thriving as far north as Mich- 
igan, New York and even the New England states. Its hardiness is 
increased by the use of home-grown seed. It grows well on sandy 
soil, resists drouth and grows on soil that is too alkaline for other 
legumes. 

Where there is sufficient moisture in the fall, it should be sown 
at that season unless it is desired to keep the crop on the same land 
for two seasons, then the seeding must be done in the spring in the 
northern states. It is not advisable to seed in the spring farther 
south because hairy vetch, like common vetch, does not resist severe 
summer heat. Fall wheat and rye with which 25 pounds of hairy 
vetch seed are an excellent grain combination to seed in the fall to 
the extent of providing a light stand. 

Like common vetch and other legumes, inoculation is necessary 
when the first attempt is made to grow these plants. This, however, 
should not interfere with the growing of legumes, because the prob- 
lem of inoculating one field with soil from another field that has 
grown the legume desired is a simple task. Where soil from such a 
field cannot be secured, inoculating with commercial artificial cul- 
ture is inexpensive and not difficult to perform. 

Most of the hairy vetch seed used in this country in the past 
has been obtained from Russia. The high cost of vetch seed is the 
principal reason why vetches are not more largely grown. However, 
even though the seed costs from 3 to 7c per pound in normal times 
at European ports, nearly a half million pounds are imported by this 



182 



Feeding the Dairy Cow 



country annually. It is possible to mature vetches and harvest the 
seed in this country, the average yield of common vetch seed being 
approximately 12 bushels and of the hairy vetch seed about 5 bush* 
els, although yields as high as 11 bushels per acre have been known. 

Hairy vetch is adapted to nearly as wide a range of use as red 
clover, and where for any reason red clover does not succeed it is an 
excellent substitute. It furnishes excellent pasturage and may be 
grazed in the spring without materially reducing its yield as a hay 
crop. It is difficult to harvest for hay unless seeded with upstanding 
crops, but when, like common vetch, it is cut when the first pods 
have formed, it furnishes protein in a most desirable form. Like 
other legumes, it is a little difficult to cure unless hay caps are pro- 
vided so that it may be cured in the shock. On good land vetches pro- 
vide some pasturage and a yield of from 1^ to 3 tons of hay per 
acre. In the Pacific states it is estimated that the crop will yield an 
average of ly^ tons while in the southern states -the estimate is 
somewhat smaller. 

It should not be understood that vetches are advised as substi- 
tutes for clover and alfalfa, but where conditions are such that these 
useful legumes cannot be raised successfully vetches should be 
raised, because on every dairy farm, in whatever section of the United 
States it may be located, some leguminous crops should be raised for 
furnishing protein by an economical method for the dairy cows' ra- 
tions and also because of their power to build up soil fertility. 

Illustrative of the value of vetches, both common and hairy, the 
accompanying table giving the content of ash and digestible nutri- 
ment shows them to be even more valuable than clover and alfalfa 
hay for feeding with carbonaceous foodstuffs: 





Digestible Nutrients 


100 pounds 


Dry 
matter 


Ash 


Protein 


Carbo- 
hydrates 


Fat 


Vetch (common) 

Vetch (hairy) 


92.9 
87.7 


8.2 
8.6 


11.6 
15.7 


42.8 
37.1 


1.6 
1.9 











CHAPTER XXIX. 

OTHER LEGUMINOUS ROUGHAGES 

Lespedeza 

A nitrogen gathering plant which has become very popular as 
well as extremely useful throughout the entire south is lespedeza or 
Japan clover. It is an annual plant that is believed by many to be a 
perennial because, unless it is very closely grazed, it reseeds itself 
from year to year so that once it has been made a part of the pasture 
or meadow it continues to grow. 

Even on the poorer soils of the south, lespedeza thrives suffi- 
ciently well for grazing purposes, and on the richer soils grows tall 
enough for hay and sometimes yields as high as three tons per acre. 
As a pasturage crop it is superior to red clover or alfalfa in that it 
is not so prolific a source of bloat, although instances have been 
known where it has caused cattle to bloat ; so for this reason care 
should be exercised in turning cows onto it when it is wet or when 
the cows have not been accustomed to grazing on it. 

Very often lespedeza hay is found on the southern markets and 
on southern farms, which is not especially good for feeding pur- 
poses. It is not very palatable to livestock because of its. stemmy 
character and the limited amount of leaves. This, however, is not 
so much a fault of the plant as it is of the manner in which it has 
been harvested. Like all other crops which are made into hay, les- 
pedeza should be cut before it has reached that stage of maturity 
where the leaves are shed, and, like other legumes, it should be cured 
in the shade. The best method of doing this is to shock it up as soon 
as possible after it has been cut and, by protecting it from the ele- 
ments with hay caps, permit it to cure in such a manner that the 
leaves — the most valuable portion of the plant — are retained. 

The chemical analysis of lespedeza shows 100 pounds of the hay 
to contain 88.2 pounds of dry matter, which consists of 5.8 pounds 
of mineral matter, 8.6 pounds of protein, 41.1 pounds of carbohy- 
drates and 1.1 pounds of fat. Therefore, if the hay is harvested and 
cured in such a manner that it is palatable, lespedeza may be con- 
sidered the equal of red clover hay. There are many southern dairy- 
men who contend that it is at least equal in feeding value to alfalfa 

^^' Velvet Bean 

Another leguminous plant that flourishes in the south and 
promises to become an excellent source of pasturage, soiling crops 
and concentrates is the velvet bean. Because it is a tropical plant it 



184 Feeding the Dairy Cow 

cannot be raised successfully north of Arkansas. The velvet bean 
plant makes tremendous growth ; its stems running along the ground 
to a length of from 20 to 60 feet. Because it does not grow upright 
it is very difficult to make it into hay, but in some instances where 
the beans have been harvested yields of 30 bushels weighing 60 
pounds to the bushel have been secured. 

A good stand of velvet beans will furnish throughout the sum- 
mer months sufficient grazing to feed well at least one cow to the 
acre, and where sufficient labor is exercised to make hay out of the 
crop a roughage is provided which is extremely high in feeding value. 
One hundred pounds of such hay contains 92.8 pounds of dry matter 
in which there is 7.4 pounds of mineral matter, 12 pounds of digesti- 
ble protein, 40 pounds of carbohydrates and 14 pounds of fat. 

Some southern dairymen are now^ gathering the seed pods and 
storing them for feeding purposes. These are not only palatable, 
but, containing 87.7 pounds of dry matter per hundredweight, which 
consists of 4 pounds of mineral matter, 14.9 pounds of digestible pro- 
tein, 51.7 pounds of carbohydrates and 3.8 pounds of fat, a feed of 
much value is furnished and may be used in substitution for cotton- 
seed meal and other high priced nitrogenous foods. When the pods 
are threshed beans are liberated that have a feeding value even 
higher, as they contain 18 per cent of digestible protein and over 5 
per cent of fat. In those states where the velvet bean grows suc- 
cessfully it is to be highly recommended as a source of pasturage and 
for providing a concentrated feed in the form of seeds and pods. Con- 
sidering the labor and expense required to separate the seeds from, 
the pods, it will likely prove more profitable to feed the pods with- 
out threshing them, especially in view of the fact that a less con- 
centrated and more bulky food is furnished than though the seeds 

alone were used. -, 

Peanuts 

Large acreages of peanuts are raised in the south. In fact, after 
the demand for peanuts for commercial purposes is filled, large acre- 
ages remain for stock-feeding purposes. The peanut vine thrives so 
luxuriantly in the south and furnishes digestible protein and fat in 
such abundance that there is much of the land that may well be de- 
voted to the raising of this crop for economically furnishing these 
nutrients to feed with carbonaceous foodstufiFs. As a rule, peanuts 
are raised more largely for hogs than for cattle. When they have 
matured sufficiently the hogs are turned in the fields to harvest the 
crop. They eat the vines, root out the peanuts, eat them also, and 
thrive. The table on the next page compiled from Henry and Morri- 
son's "Feeds and Feeding" shows in a conclusive manner the excep- 
tional feeding value of the peanut vine and its product. Eve,n the 



Other Leguminous Roughages 



185 



vines after the nuts have been removed from them have a feeding 
value that compares favorably with clover hay. If these vines are 
preserved in such a maner that they are palatable, they should prove 
useful indeed for furnishing" a portion of the roughage for the dairy 
cow's ration. 

Where the peanut vines are harvested with the nuts, as they 
often are in the south, a food is provided that is palatable and is the 
equal of alfalfa hay. 

Were it an economical process to feed peanuts without hulls it 
would be advisable to feed them in very limited amounts with other 
foodstuffs rich in carbohydrates because, as shown by the table, pea- 
nuts are extremely rich in protein and fat. Where fed in abundance 
and not properly balanced with other feeds, digestive troubles would 
result. This same thing would be true to a lesser degree were pea- 
nuts with the hulls ground and fed, because of their large content of 
digestible fat, which is 32.6 pounds per hundredweight. 

A most desirable feed to use as a concentrate would be the pea- 
nut cake resulting after the oil has been extracted from either the 
hulled or unhulled nuts, because of the large content of digestible 
protein and the favorable content of digestible fat which remains. 

The nutriment contained in the hulls alone is not great, so, in 
case they are used at all, mixed with other foods' to make them palat- 
able, it should be for the purpose of furnishing bulk to the ration 
even as ground corn cobs are so largely used for that purpose in the 
corn belt. 

It is not probable that peanut vines or the products of them will 
ever become sufficiently plentiful so, in a general way, the problem 
of using them will present itself to the rank and file of dairy cattle 
feeders ; but so great, from the standpoint of chemical analysis, is 
their feeding value that the dairyman of the south should plan to use 
them when they are available at a price within reason. By knowing 
the true feeding value of them he can fit them into his dairy ration 
in such a way as to secure from them the nutrients that will stimu- 
late large milk production. 





Digestible Nutrients 


100 pounds 


Dry 

matter 


Ash 


Protein 


Carbo- 
hydrates 


Fat 


Peanuts (without hulls) 

Peanuts (with hulls) 


94.0 

93.5 

96.0 

89.3 

94.4 

90.9 . 

92.2 

78.5 


2.2 
4.1 
5.4 
4.9 
4.5 
5.5 
6.8 
8.7. 


24.1 

18.4 

22.0 

42.1 

20.2 

0.4 

9.6 

6.6 


14.9 
15.3 
22.9 
20.4 
16.0 
33.0 
39.6 
37.0 


40.4 
32.6 
30 1 


Peanut cake (from hulled nuts).. 

Peanut cake (hulls included) 

Peanut hulls 


7.2 

10.0 

2 1 


Peanut vines (with nuts) 

Peanut vines (without nuts) 


8.3 
3.0 



CHAPTER XXX. 

MISCELLANEOUS FEEDS 

There are many feeds of great importance that at certain sea- 
sons of the year and in certain localities present themselves for con- 
sideration to the one who feeds for large production, which he at- 
tempts to secure as economically as possible. Because such feeds 
are not available at all seasons of the year, nor at any season of the 
year in all localities, they are not generally considered and as a rule 
the feeder does not recognize the value they represent even when, 
perchance, they become available. If he did, he could well afford to 
use them for reinforcing his rations, increasing production and de- 
creasing expense. For these reasons such feeds will be discussed 
briefly in this and the following two or three articles, prior to the 
chapters dealing with combining the various feeds by methods that 
tend to formulate the most suitable rations for various classes of 
animals and the various purposes for which dairy cattle are fed. 

Molasses 

There are two kinds of molasses available in nearly every sec- 
tion for feeding purposes, sugar beet and cane. In close proximity 
to sugar beet factories the molasses which remains as a by-product 
in the manufacture of sugar can often be secured at a price low 
enough to render its use in limited amounts advisable. In Europe 
where other carbonaceous feeds are more expensive than in America, 
molasses, which is termed treacle, is used very extensively not only 
because of the food value it represents but also for the purpose of 
rendering other foods not palatable to livestock useful for feeding 
purposes. Although beet molasses and cane molasses have prac- 
tically the same chemical analysis, except that beet molasses runs 
higher in protein, the cane molasses is considered more valuable be- 
cause it is less laxative. 

There is no form of feed that is more palatable to most classes 
of livestock than molasses. It is for this reason that as other food- 
stuffs increase in cost, as they have been increasing during recent 
years, molasses will come more into favor by all feeders because they 
will choose to utilize much of the unpalatable roughage that now 
goes to waste. Dry corn stover, straws resulting from the growing 
of various grains, sweet clover hay and other such feeds which ani- 
mals do not eat with avidity when fed alone can be used in large 
quantities by moistening them with molasses diluted with water. By 
using two or three pounds of molasses daily per cow in this manner, 



Miscellaneous Feeds 187 

large volumes of roughage that would otherwise be wasted can be 
utilized to excellent advantage for furnishing roughage where feed- 
ers are careful to supplement such roughage with concentrates that 
will balance the ration and provide for the cow suitable nutrients in 
abundance for stimulating her normal flow of milk and butterfat. 

Furthermore, there are many concentrates that cows do not eat 
readily, even though chemical analysis demonstrates that they are 
of high feeding value. At the present time these feeds, cheap in 
price, are discriminated against by the feeder for no other reason 
than that they are not readily eaten. Were the same feeders to ju- 
diciously use molasses^ which in normal times can be secured at rea- 
sonable prices, such feeds could be made useful to excellent advan- 
tage. 

Molasses does have objections to its use. Chief among these is 
that, unless provision is made for a systematic use of it, the task of 
mixing it with rations is a disagreeable one. Where it is used in the 
summer time flies are attracted to the barn in large numbers and 
additional precautions must be taken for eliminating them. Unless 
care is used to obviate overfeeding molasses, it is certain to cause 
scours in young animals and is very liable to have such effect upon 
animals that are mature. When fed in amounts not exceeding three 
pounds daily per thousand pounds live weight to older animals an 
over-laxative condition seldom appears — never except with in- 
dividual animals, and to these the thoughtful feeder will give a 
smaller daily supply. 

Very often molasses is used in small quantities for fitting cattle 
for exhibition and sale purposes. By stimulating the appetite an 
animal is influenced to eat more heartily of other foods and thereby 
caused to gain rapidly in flesh and condition. It is generally be- 
lieved among practical feeders that molasses has a tendency to 
soften the hide and make silken the hair of animals and, as such a 
condition gives a more pleasing appearance and hastens the opera- 
tion of bringing animals into bloom, those who feed cattle for exhi- 
bition and sale purposes are quite partial to the use of both beet and 
cane molasses. 

Molasses is an easily digested feed, being soluble in water, pro- 
vided it is fed in small amounts, but, according to Dr. Lindsey of 
the Massachusetts Experiment Station, it is likely to affect adversely 
the heart and kidneys if fed in excess and to appear undigested in 
the urine. After making numerous experiments. Dr. Lindsey re- 
futes the idea so generally accepted by practical feeders that mo- 
lasses aids the digestion of other foods. He says : "It may be stated 
that while molasses is completely digested, it does not improve the 



188 Feeding the Dairy Cow 

digestibility of the feedstuffs with which it is fed, but actually causes 
them to be less digestible (average about eight per cent.) This does 
not mean that molasses is without value as a food. An entire ra- 
tion, of which molasses is a component, would be rather more di- 
gestible than the ration without molasses, for the reason that, al- 
though the molasses depresses the digestibility of other components, 
its entire digestibility more than makes up for the action as a de- 
presser of digestion. It is not advisable under usual conditions to 
feed a ration containing a total of more than 15 per cent of molasses." 

According to chemical analysis molasses is three-fourths the 
equal of corn meal in feeding value, with the exception that cane 
molasses contains slightly less protein, more water and more ash. 
Furthermore, the carbohydrates in both beet and cane molasses 
are in the form of sugar rather than starch. 

In actual feeding value the practical feeder who has used mo- 
lasses judiciously gains the impression that it is at least equal in 
value to corn meal, but those who have experimented scientifically 
in an attempt to determine definitely the relative feeding value of 
molasses dififer in their conclusions. After experimenting largely 
Dr. Lindsey summarizes his results as follows : 

"1. Any particularly favorable effect of Porto Rico molasses 
upon the general health and appearance of the six milch cows em- 
ployed in the ^^ * * experiment was not observed. The faeces from 
the molasses fed animals were darker in color and softer than those 
receiving the corn meal ration. 

'*2. A daily ration containing nearly four pounds of corn meal 
produced some 10 per cent more milk and 11 to 13 per cent more to- 
tal solids and fat than a similar basal ration containing a like amount 
of Porto Rico molasses. 

"3. The molasses ration seemed to produce milk with slightly 
less fat and solids not fat than did the corn meal ration. 

"4. A like amount of milk and butterfat from the molasses ra- 
tion cost 8 to 11 per cent more than from the corn meal ration. 

*'5. Molasses did not provide any unfavorable effect upon the 
flavor of the milk." 

After summarizing in this manner Dr. Lindsey quotes from 
European experiments as follows : 

"Numerous foreign experiments are recorded relative to the 
value of both raw molasses and of molasses feeds for milch cows. 
The results are often contradictory; in some cases it is indicated that 
molasses increased the fat percentage in the milk, and in other cases 
the body weight. 



Miscellaneous Feeds 189 

"The general conclusions at the Copenhagen Experiment Sta- 
tion, where experiments were conducted according to the Fjord 
method, were that corn, wheat, wheat bran and also molasses had 
substantially equal values for dairy stock but that for milk produc- 
tion these were inferior to concentrated feeds rich in protein and 
fat. A molasses ration did not cause any marked change either in the 
condition of the animal or in the quality of the milk. It had no ef- 
fect on the composition of the butterfat other than to increase the- 
melting point some two degrees and render the butter firmer. 

''Ramm's investigation led him to conclude that the amido 
bodies contained in the molasses act as a stimulant upon the mam- 
mary glands and check the normal diminution in the secretion of 
the milk. Both Ramm and Hagermann further maintain that the 
organic matter other than sugar in the molasses increases the fat 
percentage and the butter-producing quality of the milk. 

"P. Hoppe demonstrates that the addition of small quantities of 
molasses (two pounds daily per 1,000 pounds live weight) causes a 
small increase in the daily milk production, but that the yield is no- 
ticeably decreased when the amount supplied daily reaches four 
pounds per 1,000 pounds live weight. Contrary to Ramm and Hager- 
mann, Hoppe notes a decrease in the fat percentage of the milk. He 
further concludes that an intensive molasses diet is not suitable 
either for dairy animals or for any other farm stock." 

In a way, these results, which are more or less conflicting, 
leave the reader to decide for himself the advisability of utilizing 
molasses for feeding purposes. Due consideration will probably 
bring him to the conclusion that whenever it is possible to secure 
molasses at a price less than corn or other carbonaceous foods, he 
can use the treacle to advantage. Even in instances where it is some- 
what more expensive than other carbonaceous foods, he will decide 
to use it in limited amounts for adding palatability to other food- 
stuffs for cheapening the ration, and also he will desire to use it for 
special purposes, such as fitting animals quickly and efficiently for 
the sale ring and showyard. He should be impressed with the fact 
that he should not use more than three pounds daily per 1,000 pounds 
live weight, and, if he confines himself to two pounds per 1,000 pounds 
of live weight, he will without doubt find molasses more useful in 
his feeding operations. 

So digestible is molasses that one might be led to believe that 
it would be especially valuable for feeding young calves. This 
seems, however, not to be the case. At the Louisiana Experiment 
Station, which is located in that section where blackstrap cane mo- 
lasses is abundantly available for feeding purposes, experiments 



190 Feeding the Dairy Cow 

were made .by T. E. Woodward and J. G. Lee. They describe the 
manner in which the experiments were performed and draw their con- 
clusions as follows : 

"The young calves were kept in individual pens 4x6. Part of 
the time they were allowed to run at will in a lot during the day, 
but were placed in their pens at night. The pens were cleaned out 
twice daily and the young animals bedded with sawdust. Kreso (a 
coal tar preparation) was rubbed or sprayed on the calves to keep 
them free, from ticks and consequent irritation. The older calves ran 
out in pasture with the cows during the day, and at night were fed in 
their individual stalls. 

"Thirteen calves in all were fed blackstrap molasses. The young 
calves received from four to six pounds of skim-milk twice daily ; the 
object being to underfeed, rather than overfeed them. The older 
calves received six to eight pounds of skim-milk twice daily. These 
would have been fed more but for the fact that this amount was all 
to which they had previously been accustomed. 

"The young calves were given all the hay and grain they would 
clean up; the older ones received about two pounds of grain daily. 
The grain consisted of two parts bran, two parts corn meal, and one 
part oil meal. The only available roughage was oat hay and crab- 
grass hay. 

"In no instance did the molasses fail to scour the calves. The 
amount required to produce scours varied all the way from one- 
twentieth of a pound in the case of very young calves, to seven- 
tenths of a pound in the case of the seven-months-old calves. 

"The molasses first used was slightly sour. Fresh molasses 
was, however, secured and heated to a temperature of 180 degrees 
Fahrenheit, or more, but still the scouring continued. Pasteuriza- 
tion of the skim-milk fiid not have any beneficial effect. Exercise 
seemed to make no difference, so far as the condition of the calves' 
bowels was concerned. Granulated sugar produced the same results 
as an equivalent amount of sugar contained in the molasses. Milk 
sugar proved laxative also, but about twice as much of it can be fed ; 
in other words, two ounces of milk sugar has the same effect as one 
ounce of cane sugar. When the calves scoured, their droppings were 
sour-smelling; but when they did not scour, their droppings did not 
smell sour. 

"Several substances were fed along with the milk and molasses 
in the hope of finding something that would prevent scouring: For- 
malin, blood meal and lime water proved useless. Common salt 
(na cl) had a slightly beneficial effect. Fifty grains of tannin in 
some cases enabled us to feed about one-half more molasses than it 



Miscellaneous Feeds 191 

was possible to feed without it; in other cases it seemed to be with- 
out effect. All of the substances mentioned, as well as the sugar and 
molasses, were fed mixed in the milk. 

Conclusions 

"On account of its laxative effect blackstrap molasses can not 
be used as supplement to skim-milk for calf feeding purposes in suf- 
ficient quantity to be of any practical value. 

**This laxative effect is due to the sugar content, rather than to 
any of the other constituents of the blackstrap. 

''Scouring is caused by the fermentation of the sugar in the di- 
gestive tract. 

"Salt and tannin have a beneficial effect, but will not prevent 
scouring." Molasses Feeds 

There are numerous valuable molasses feeds upon the market 
and many of these are very useful for feeding purposes. On the 
other hand, there are some molasses feeds that are not to be recom- 
mended because they are largely made up of materials quite the 
same in character as much that is being wasted upon the farm. By 
grinding such materials low in feeding value and palatability and 
mixing them with molasses, they are rendered palatable and there- 
fore salable. 

In purchasing molasses feeds one should observe the chemical 
analysis which appears on the bags or tags attached to the sacks in 
states where laws require the manufacturer to label the feed with its 
true analysis. If molasses feeds showing large digestible feeding 
values are available at reasonable prices, they are excellent to use 
for adding palatability and food value to the regular ration, and they 
eliminate the disagreeable task of mixing molasses with rations 
that are formulated at home. 

The chief merits of a feed are that it contains proper feeding 
nutrients in a digestible form, that it is palatable and inexpensive, 
and that it adds variety to the ration, so I do not hesitate to recom- 
mend to feeders that they use molasses feeds which are offered them, 
provided investigation shows these requirements have been fulfilled 
by the manufacturer. On the other hand, I do not hesitate to warn 
feeders that they discriminate against molasses feeds which do not 
show that they meet these requirements. In many sections alfalfa 
and molasses can be secured at very reasonable prices, and in such 
instances, where the feeder has a right to believe that the alfalfa 
which was ground before mixing the molasses with it was of good 
quality, he can well afford to make use of the feed because, alfalfa 
being high in digestible protein and molasses being high in carbo- 
hydrates, a ration more nearly balanced than though molasses were 
fed by itself will be secured. 



192 I Feeding the Dairy Cow 

Pumpkins 

There are very few sections where pumpkins will not grow. 
In fact, they seem to thrive in most climates and on most soils in 
this country. When cows must leave pasture and go into winter 
environment, because the change is quite radical, it is very difficult 
to keep cows producing largely. As a rule they decrease in milk 
flow at this reason provided they have been afiforded good pastur- 
age. It is rather early in the season to begin feeding roots, or even 
corn silage largely, and at this time pumpkins are exceptionally use- 
ful. So easily are tfiey raised that every dairyman should provide 
for their use at the season of the year which may be termed between 
grass and hay. Very often a poor stand of corn is secured in the 
spring, and in this event it is advisable to replant the missing hills 
with pumpkin seeds. Before the advent of the corn harvester this 
method was more prevalent than at the present time. The objection 
to it now is that the pumpkins cause trouble in harvesting the corn 
with a binder. Very often there are fields which are not to be har- 
vested in this manner, and these are the places where pumpkin.s 
should be grown or a small acreage should be devoted exclusively 
to growing this excellent form of succulence. 

Experiments show the feeding value of pumpkins to be nearly 
half as great as is that of corn silage. Practical experience shows 
them to be even more valuable because of the readiness with which 
they are eaten by cows milking largely and because of their ten- 
dency to maintain or even increase the milk flow at a time when 
cows are leaving pasture and going into winter conditions. 

An idea seems to be more or less prevalent that pumpkin seeds 
have a tendency to turn cows dry. Experiments indicate that this 
is an erroneous opinion and that pumpkin seeds, like other seeds, are 
very rich in protein and fat and, therefore, quite valuable as feeding 
material provided they are not overfed. Were it not for this fact 
there would be little, if any, danger of over-feeding pumpkins, but 
because of the richness of the seeds the feeder should limit the 
amount of pumpkins fed to 30 to 40 pounds per cow daily. 

A method often employed in feeding pumpkins is to break them 
on the ground and let cows fight for them. A more advisable method 
is to cut them up into pieces from two to three inches square and 
feed them in the barn either with the grain ration or separately. 
Where this method is employed, a portion of the seeds can be re- 
moved, which, when carefully washed and dried, can be preserved 
for planting the next spring. 



Miscellaneous Feeds 193 

Potatoes 

It often happens that the market price of potatoes is so low as 
to disappoint the grower and make it to his advantage to feed them 
rather than go to the expense of marketing them. Even when pota- 
toes are selling at a high price, any grower of them can secure a 
large total price for his crop by putting them over a grader, selling 
the biggest of them and keeping the smaller ones to use for stock 
feeding purposes. Many farmers find it advantageous to cook the 
potatoes which are not offered for sale and use them for feeding 
hogs. This is the best outlet for them, but they may be fed to cows 
in limited amounts. They serve as a source of nutriment and succu- 
lence, but are not exceedingly palatable. If overfed, potatoes tend 
to create a laxative condition in the animal, taint the milk and render 
the resulting butter white and salve-like. For these reasons, even 
though they are available in abundance, their use should be limited 
to 2t^ or 30 pounds daily per cow. Sometimes potatoes are stored 
with an expectation of a high market in the spring, which does not 
materialize. In such instances, where it becomes necessary to feed 
them to cows or other livestock, care should be taken to remove the 
sprouts, for it seems they contain a poisonous substance which may 
cause much trouble if animals are permitted to eat them. 

Sweet Potatoes 

More valuable than the common Irish potato for feeding pur- 
poses is the sweet potato. In the south they are raised very largely 
for feeding livestock, and it is not uncommon to hear the assertion 
made by southern dairymen that sweet potatoes afford the very best 
source of succulence for dairy cows. An experiment performed at 
the Florida station indicates that practical experience is reinforced 
by scientific research. It was found that 100 pounds of sweet pota- 
coes produced as good results in milk and butterfat as did 150 pounds 
of corn silage. On good soil sweet potatoes can be made to yield 
as much as six or eight tons per acre, and this furnishes as much 
feeding value as though the same acre had grown from 9 to 11 tons 
of corn silage. 

Sweet potatoes are very palatable to cows and those who have 
fed them agree that no deleterious effects are produced by them on 
the milk or butter produced when they are fed. 

As a rule, sweet potatoes command a market price so large that 
growers are tempted to sell them rather than to feed them, but, with 
a knowledge of their actual feeding value, the dairyman is in posi- 
tion to decide for himself whether he should sell them for human 
consumption or use them for feeding purposes. Very often in the 
south it is possible to purchase sweet potatoes at a price lower than 



194 Feeding the Dairy Cow 

it costs to provide an equal amount of feeding value in the form of 
corn silage. This is especially true in sections where land is sandy 
and on which sweet potatoes thrive and corn grows sparingly. 

Apple Pomace 

Occasionally inquiries are made relative to the value of apple 
pomace. This is the by-product resulting from the manufacture of 
cider, which leaves the apple pulp as a waste product unless it can 
be used as a by-product. These inquiries indicate that in certain 
sections apple pomace is oftentimes available. In Europe it is used 
as a by-product with good results instead of considering it as mere 
waste. It is estimated that from 125 to 150 gallons of cider may be 
secured from one ton of fruit, leaving the remainder available for 
feeding and fertilizing purposes. 

The chemical analysis of pomace shows it to contain from 60 
to 80 per cent of moisture, about 1 per cent of fat, 1 per cent of pro- 
tein, 1 per cent of mineral matter and about 12 per cent of carbo- 
hydrates. According to this, it would appear that pomace is prac- 
tically equal to wet brewers' grain, silage or root crops for furnish- 
ing nutriment. 

The chief difficulty found in using pomace is that it very rapidly 
decomposes after developing alcoholic fermentation and produces 
acetic acid. 

In its fresh state it is eaten readily by all classes of livestock 
after they have become accustomed to its taste. When used as a feed 
it should be mixed with concentrates rather than attempting to feed 
it alone and, when used at the rate of approximately one-third of the 
total ration, it is found to be most useful. 

Because of the rapid deterioration of apple pomace it is neces- 
sary to feed it while it is still fresh and sweet or to provide for pre- 
serving it. In England the plan has been adopted of making it into 
silage and also the method is followed of sprinkling salt between 
layers of pomace that are one foot thick. Under these conditions 
the pomace settles and keeps well. Where amounts are sufficiently 
large to make it worth while, drying plants are provided and the 
pomace dried. The resulting product is one of much feeding value, 
palatable to all classes of livestock and useful for feeding purposes. 

Cocoanut Meal 

Occasionally inquiries are made relative to the value of cocoa- 
nut meal. This by-product is not plentiful in many sections of the 
United States but is being fed to some extent o;i the Pacific coast 
and is used quite largely in parts of Europe. It results from the manu- 
facture of cocoanut oil and represents a feeding value higher than 
bran but lower than linseed meal. 



Miscellaneous Feeds 195 

Recently, since other feedstuffs have become so high in Europe 
on account of the war, the agricultural colleges have been experi- 
menting to determine more definitely the value of this cocoanut oil 
by-product. The conclusions thus derived and set forth by the 
Journal of the Board of Agriculture indicate that, when judiciously 
fed, this food may be used to advantage, although it is not very pal- 
atable and needs to be fed with a mixture of more pleasing foods. 
Where the amount is restricted to 50 per cent of the concentrated ra- 
tion, or less, good results are secured. As cocoanut meal creates a 
laxative condition in the animal it should be fed with foods that have 
the opposite tendency. 

Only when cocoanut meal can be secured at a price slightly 
higher than good wheat bran should it be considered seriously as a 
food for dairy animals. 

Palm Nut Kernel Meal 

For many years palm nut kernel cake and meal have been man- 
wfactured, used largely and exported by Germany. Since the out- 
break of the European war many experiments in England and Scot- 
land have been performed with the result that many factories have 
sprung up for the purpose of manufacturing this feed which has 
been found very useful and economical for feeding all classes of live- 
stock. 

Experiments show that palm nut kernel cake and meal compare 
very favorably with cottonseed cake and meal but that they are not 
relished by animals, especially dairy cows, as much as is cottonseed 
meal. However, after animals have become accustomed to eating 
them they ofifer no objections. As is equally true of experiments, the 
results secured at various stations differed. At some stations the 
cottonseed meal was shown to be superior while at other stations 
the palm nut kernel cake was reported to produce more milk and but- 
terfat. In some instances a decision was reached which indicates 
palm nut kernel cake has a tendency to increase the percentage of 
fat, and in all instances it was shown that the general health of ani- 
mals was preserved nicely and that animals fed on palm nut kernel 
cake had looser skins, glossier in appearance than the skins of ani- 
mals fed on cottonseed cake. Where it is available, and can be pur- 
chased at a price not exceeding cottonseed meal, it may advisedly 
be used as a part of rations for furnishing protein and fat. 



CHAPTER XXXI. 

PACKING HOUSE BY-PRODUCTS 

There was a time when blood and meat scraps were waste prod- 
ucts at the great packing centers. To get rid of them occasioned no 
little expense. Later the value of these waste products became rec- 
ognized for furnishing fertilizing elements. Enormous driers were 
installed at great expense and a tremendous industry developed. In 
more recent years a market more profitable to the packer has been 
developed because of the large content of protein and the compara- 
tively large amounts of fat contained in these products that were 
formerly waste. There were those who realized that foodstuffs of 
exceptional value would result if they could be prepared in such a 
manner as to be useful for feeding livestock. 

All over the United States and Canada experiments were per- 
formed to determine the feeding value of dried blood, meat scraps, 
bone meal and tankage. In almost every instance it was demon- 
strated that foodstufifs of rare value for hog feeding purposes had 
been discovered. As a result improved machinery was installed by 
the packing houses and today tremendous tonnages of these by- 
product feeds are on the market and available in nearly every com- 
munity. So great is the feeding value of them that they have at- 
tained a prestige even though the price per ton of the various pack- 
ing house by-products is large indeed as compared with other food- 
stuffs when the cost per ton alone is considered. But when the large 
content of protein and fat contained by them is considered and com- 
pared with the cost of these nutrients in other foodstuffs it is realized 
by the thoughtful feeder that as a rule he can secure these nutrients 
in a more digestible form at a price not exceeding, and often less 
than, that which he is compelled to pay when he secures the same 
nutrients from other foodstuffs which cost less per ton. 

It has been found that these products are palatable to hogs but 
not palatable to cattle. Another drawback is that a distinct and ob- 
jectionable odor is always present in these by-products and that it 
is especially noticeable in hot weather. It has been found, however, 
that these feeds can be used in limited amounts for feeding dairy 
animals, and blood meal and blood flour have proved themselves es- 
pecially valuable for feeding young calves. 



Packing House By-Products 197 

Blood Meal 

At the large packing houses provision has been made for the 
blood of slaughtered animals to run into a receptacle from which it 
is quickly pumped into a cooking tank, where it is heated to a poinl 
at which the water separates from the clots. It is then placed be 
tween large cloths and put under hydraulic pressure to remove the 
moisture. This leaves the blood in cakes about three inches thick 
which contains about 50 per cent of moisture. These are placed in a 
mechanical drier and all but 6 or 7 per cent of the remaining moisture 
is removed. It then passes through large grinders, is reduced to meal 
and placed in sacks ready for shipment. The operations are all ac- 
complished quickly in order that at no stage of the manufacture will 
decomposition of the blood particles take place. During the process 
of grinding the meal is passed over sieves so fine that any portion of 
the product dropping through is extremely fine. This is sacked and 
known as blood flour. It is, therefore, apparent that the only dif- 
ference between blood meal and blood flour is that the latter is more 
finely ground and, although both products are soluble in water or 
milk, blood flour is more readily soluble and, therefore, a more advis- 
able feed for dissolving in milk to feed calves. 

Blood is one of the most digestible of all foodstuffs. It is also 
the most concentrated protein feed. Both the meal and the flour con- 
tain over 80 per cent of protein, and there is available, in 100 pounds 
over 70 pounds of this valuable nutrient in a digestible form. There 
is a small amount of mineral matter, approximately 3>^ per cent, but 
because it is so largely digestible it is especially valuable. There are 
no digestible carbohydrates in blood, and less than 1 per cent of fat. 
Its chief value as a feeding stuff rests in its content of protein and 
the beneficial effect it has upon the digestive apparatus. 

None of the packing house by-products is palatable to cattle. 
If they are used at all they must be mixed with other feeds. Be- 
cause of their large content of protein, they are very expensive per 
ton and, if used at all in feeding dairy cattle, they should be used in 
small amounts. 

At present blood meal is not used to any great extent for feed- 
ing dairy cows, and it is not likely that it will ever become a popu- 
lar feed under average conditions. Where cows are producing largely 
and the desire is to stimulate them to do their very best, feeders will 
find it advantageous to add from one to two pounds of blood meal 
to the daily ration. It must be carefully mixed with other feeds and 
used in very small amounts in the beginning to avoid causing the 
cow to leave her entire ration. By gradually and slowly increasing 
the amount of blood meal fed no trouble will be experienced in in- 
ducing the cow to eat as much as two pounds daily. 



198 Feeding the Dairy Cow 

Blood meal and blood flour are particularly valuable for feeding 
young calves. Many breeders and dairymen now follow the prac- 
tice of adding a teaspoonful of the meal, or better, the flour, to each 
feed of milk given. Calves fed in this manner are less liable to suffer 
from scours, and because the blood is so extremely rich in protein 
and digestible mineral matter, it stimulates very rapid growth of 
bone and muscle. For calves suffering from scours, other than that 
caused by infection, there is no remedy better than blood flour in- 
troduced into the ration as suggested above. It should be under- 
stood, however, that only fresh, clean flour should be used. When 
it gets old it develops a disagreeable odor and calves do not eat it 
with relish, nor do they seem to do well upon it. It is, therefore, ad- 
visable to secure the blood meal or flour direct from the large pack- 
ing houses, all of which offer it for sale. 

So great is the value of blood for introducing digestible protein 
into rations that many of the large commercial feed manufacturers 
are now using it for increasing the digestible protein content of the 
feeds they offer for sale. This being true, the fact is illustrated that 
the practical feeder can well afford to experiment judiciously with 
blood meal, provided the rations he is feeding lack the protein 
which is so essential in stimulating large milk production. 

Tankage 

Scraps of meat and fat, small particles of bone and some blood, 
which formerly were wasted in killing establishments, are now care- 
fully preserved, cooked, dried and ground in much the same manner 
as is blood for making blood meal, and these scraps are manufac- 
tured into tankage and meat meal. These by-products are not used 
in feeding dairy animals because they are not palatable. They are, 
therefore, not directly useful for feeding dairy animals. Their value 
is of an indirect nature. 

As a substitute for skim-milk in feeding swine and poultry, 
tankage and meat meal are especially valuable. For this reason they 
should have careful consideration by the dairyman who sells the 
products of the cow in the form of whole-milk instead of cream. 

It is well known that when whole-milk is sold much more fer- 
tility is removed from the farm than when the product is sold in the 
form of cream. Furthermore, every farmer recognizes the value of 
skim-milk as a food for young and growing animals. However, 
where tankage and meat meal are employed to substitute for skim- 
milk in feeding swine and poultry, that fertility which is lost by sell- 
ing whole-milk is returned with the tankage. Experiments that have 
been performed in a large percentage of the stations of the United 
•States and Canada indicate that tankage and meat meal are almost. 



Packing House By-Products 199 

if not quite, as valuable for feeding swine and poultry as is skim- 
milk, and more economical where a good market for whole-milk 
exists. 

These by-products seem to have an advantage over other feed- 
stufifs in that they, like milk, are animal products rather than the 
products or by-products resulting from grains and grasses. Es- 
pecially are they valuable because of the large percentage of easily 
digested mineral matter, protein and fat they contain. When they 
form a portion of slops or mashes, they furnish identically the same 
constituents in quite the same manner as skim-milk. 

When the dairyman is able to secure a sufficiently larger price 
for butterfat in the form of milk than in the form of cream^ he is jus- 
tified in selling whole-milk, reserving only a sufficient amount for 
feeding and raising his calves well, provided he returns to his farm 
through the medium of packing house or other by-product feeds a 
volume of food nutrients and fertilizing ingredients equal to that 
which the skim-milk he sells takes from the farm. 

Because of the large amount of digestible nutrients contained 
in tankage and beef scraps, the price of them per ton is high, but the 
rule is that digestible mineral matter, protein and fat may be secured 
in them as cheaply as from any other source. As long as this is true, 
their use for balancing rations is advisable. 

Bone Meal 

It has been shown conclusively by experimenting with growing 
pigs that size and strength of bone can be materially increased by 
feeding bone-growing material to young animals. Moreover, milk 
contains a large amount of mineral matter. As a rule, cows secure 
a sufficient amount of mineral matter from feed provided them to 
supply their own body requirements and furnish mineral matter for 
the milk they yield. The feeder of dairy cattle has given very little 
consideration to supply mineral matter in his ration for this reason. 
Nevertheless, there are instances where a lack of ash is the limiting 
factor in milk production. 

As a rule, cows will eat bone meal if the opportunity is afforded 
them. This indicates that it may be advisable to keep a small sup- 
ply of finely ground bone meal available in a sheltered place, where 
cows may lick it as they choose. Where this is done the feeder will 
be surprised to learn what a large quantity of finely ground bone 
cows will eat of their own accord. Experiments performed for the 
purpose of demonstrating the advisability of feeding bone meal to 
cows have not indicated the necessity of mixing bone meal with 
grain rations. Until they do, if it is advisable to feed bone meal at 
all, the best plan will be to make it available and permit cows to eat 



200 



Feeding the Dairy Cow 



of it in amounts such as they choose or such as their requirements 
impel them to do. 

Many dairymen and breeders of dairy cattle have concluded 
that it is wise to feed ground bone to young calves. It may be fed 
with the grain ration in such proportions that each calf will secure 
from one-half to three-quarters of an ounce daily, but, as is the case 
with older animals, a plan more to be recommended is that of keep- 
ing finely ground bone meal available in a sheltered spot where the 
growing calves may eat of it as they choose. When the opportunity 
to eat bone meal is afforded calves consume large amounts and seem 
to thrive so well on it that its use is to be highly recommended. 

Following the discussion of the miscellaneous foods, the analy- 
ses compiled from Henry & Morrison's "Feeds and Feeding" will 
give the reader a clear conception of the feeding values and enable 
him to use them when conditions warrant : 









Digestible nutrients 


100 pounds 


Dry 
matter 


Ash 


Protein 


Carbo- 
hydrates 


Fat 


Beet molasses 

Cane or black strap molasses.... 


74.7 
74.2 
8.3 
21.2 
31.2 
23.3 
90.4 
89.6 
90.3 
92.6 


5.2 
6.4 
0.9 
1.1 
1.1 
1.0 
4.9 
4.3 
3.3 
10.5 


1.1 

1.0 

11 

1.1 

0.9 

1.2 

18.8 

12.4 

69.1 

58.7 


59.4 
58.2 
4.5 
15.8 
24.2 
15.6 
42.0 
45.8 


6!s 


Potatoes 


1 


Sweet potatoes 


0.3 
8 


Cocoanut meal 

Palm nut meal 

Blood meal or flour 

Tankage — ^high protein grade 


8.1 

9.5 

0.9 

12.6 



CHAPTER XXXII. 

APPLYING THE KNOWLEDGE OF FEEDS 

After the Cow Is Dry 

Those who have studied the preceding chapters have a working 
knowledge of all foodstuffs available in every section of the United 
States. They are familiar with the physical and chemical properties 
of each. 

They know which foods are palatable to cows, which are bulky 
and which are concentrated, which furnish succulence and which fur- 
nish dry matter, which are highly digestible and which are not, those 
rich in ash, those rich in protein, and which ones furnish an abun- 
dance of carbohydrates and fat. 

The one in possession of this information finds it a simple task 
to ascertain the cheapest source of the various food requirements 
from home-grown or purchasable foodstuffs. By dividing the price 
per ton of any feed by the number of pounds of digestible protein 
contained in the ton of feed, the cost per pound of this necessary 
nutrient may be quickly determined. The same process will inform 
the feeder what each of the other nutrients is costing per pound. 
Adding together the digestible protein, carbohydrates and fat con- 
tained in a ton of feed gives one an excellent idea of the feeding 
value of that particular foodstuff. 

By dividing the cost per ton by the total pounds of digestible 
nutrients contained therein, a figure is secured that is well for every 
feeder to consider. It is the figure that denotes the cost per pound 
of the real, useful, milk-stimulating, growth-producing food nutri- 
ents. By comparing the various foodstuffs available in this manner 
the most economical source of feed for compiling rations is readily 
located. The reader will remember, however, that this compilation 
will not alone suffice for drawing final conclusions. It is necessary 
also to consider the physical value of foods, their palatability and 
the question as to whether they furnish in a well proportioned man- 
ner the essential ingredients, moisture, ash, protein, carbohydrates 
and fat. As a fundamental principle, however, in selecting feeds it 
is highly advisable to first determine the cost per pound of digestible 
nutriment and then the feeder is in position to select from the num- 
ber of feeds available those which when mixed together will fulfill 
all of the requirements. 

In this day of high-priced feedstuffs this simple process of figur- 
ing will eliminate some foodstuffs that have heretofore been consid- 



202 Feeding the Dairy Cow 

ered most advisable for feeding dairy cows, and feeders will substi- 
tute for them other foods which in the past have not been used so 
largely. It is a process which will serve to reduce the cost of feed- 
ing a cow several cents per day in many instances. Thus several 
dollars are saved for each cow in the herd during a year's time and, 
therefore, many dollars will be saved in a year in feeding the entire 
herd. A greater gain still will result, for it is true that, when a 
dairyman begins using pencil and paper in an intelligent manner, he 
is led to the discovery that there are several ways whereby he can 
save in his feeding operations and at the same time increase produc- 
tion and better the conditions under which his animals are kept. 

Valuable and necessary — even essential — is this information for 
the one who would feed for large and. economical results either in 
growing young animals or producing milk and butterfat, and it is 
the first stepping-stone which leads to compiling suitable rations. It 
is equally necessary for the feeder to have a clear conception of the 
distinct purposes for which foods are fed. But a moment's thought 
is required to show one that the combination of food suitable for 
fattening a steer might or might not be satisfactory for stimulating 
a cow to give milk. Valuable as is wood for building houses, it is 
worthless for making bullets, and excellently as steel fulfills the re- 
quirements for making railroad tracks, it does not serve well the 
purpose of making wearing apparel. And so it is that a ration bal- 
anced for growing a calf may not be balanced for a mature cow. 
Furthermore, it is very true that a ration balanced perfectly for one 
cow may not be balanced for another or for the same cow at an- 
other time. I make this statement because I know the majority of 
feeders seem to have been led to believe that someone^ somewhere, 
has the knowledge and power to formulate a balanced ration from 
certain feeds that one may have available, so that by using this fixed 
ration for feeding every cow in the herd equally good results can be 
expected from each. Right here is where many feeders make a mis- 
take. It is in this respect that the idea of the balanced ration is the- 
oretical and falls short of its mark, as will be realized as the reader 
studies further and learns wherein the balanced ration can be used 
to advantage in other ways than by considering it a sort of a fixed 
rule or formula. Suffice it to say at this point that no one as yet has 
been able to devise a ration or a plan of feeding any class of live- 
stock that eliminates the feeder using a plentiful supply of knowl- 
edge, judgment, common sense and ability, which only practical ex- 
perience combined with study will give him . 

For a balanced ration to prove as satisfactory in practice as in 
theory indicates the one who compiles it must have a clear concep- 



Applying the Knowledge of Feeds 203 

tion of just what purpose the ration is being balanced for. Even 
then disappointment is liable to result if it is balanced for the pur- 
pose of increasing milk production, provided the cows that are to 
be fed are far advanced in lactation, for it is well known that Dame 
Nature plays such a part in controlling milk production that man 
must work in harmony with her if he is to succeed. 

It is for this reason that from this point to the conclusion of the 
discussion relating to how a dairy cow should be fed the subject 
will be handled just as though one or more cows were to be fed for 
the largest and most economical production. I know of only one 
system that can be followed to obtain best results, and never in 
many years of study, research and experience have I learned of one 
who has discovered a system that can be successfully substituted. 
Therefore, far be it from my purpose to lead my readers to believe 
that I can convey knowledge that will enable them to adopt rations 
or feeding methods that may be employed on a herd of cows in 
various periods of lactation one day and increase perceptibly the milk 
flow of the herd the next day, or even the following week or month. 
That is so impossible that only by magic could the feat be performed. 

Let us think for a moment of the reason why a cow gives milk 
at all. It will then occur to us that at a not far distant date the cow 
was but a beast of the prairie and forest. Like wild animals that 
roam at will, she had but to live and rear her young. She was vastly 
different from the high-producing, almost artificial animal we know 
her to be now. When she conceived she was giving no milk, or so 
little that she soon went dry so she might use all of her energy to 
nourish her own body and the little body within her womb, which 
was there growing in the image of herself and to which she would 
give birth in due time. To maintain her own body foods of a certain 
kind and in certain amounts were necessary. She needed a balanced 
ration the same as cows of today do ; perhaps she needed more food 
because hers was a more active life than is that of the cow that has 
her food carried to her where she is sheltered from the elements and 
protected against enemies. But, generally speaking, she needed a 
maintenance ration which experience and experiments teach us is 
one that will furnish for every 100 pounds live weight .07 pound of 
protein, .7 pound of carbohydrates and .01 pound of fat in a digesti- 
ble form. Let us assume that she weighed 1,000 pounds. Then she 
would need to gather from here and there enough food to furnish 
her with .7 pound of protein, 7 pounds of carbohydrates and .1 pound 
of fat. This she had to have to maintain her own body under or- 
dinary conditions. If compelled to fight or flee from her enemies, 
extra nourishment was necessary to supply energy for the task. 



204 Feeding the Dairy Cow 

Moreover, because the calf she was carrying had no other source of 
nourishment except that furnished from the blood of the mother, it 
was necessary for her to secure additional food for this purpose, be- 
cause, let it never be forgotten by the feeder who would succeed, 
that substance never originates from nothing. For life to be sus- 
tained a certain amount of nourishment is absolutely necessary. For 
a unit of energy to be generated by an animal food nutrients are es- 
sential, and to develop a calf, whether during the gestation period 
or after it is born, demands that from some source or other the nec- 
essary amount of nourishment be supplied as food. 

These are rules established in the beginning by nature. They 
are arbitrary and never changing. They must be respected by the 
feeder, and all experience and experiments known to man from the 
beginning of time down to the present day prove conclusively that 
he who disregards the absolute and fixed laws of nature must expect 
to suffer the consequences. 

Therefore, the cow of primitive ages that lived and reproduced 
herself was compelled to rustle and secure a definite amount of food. 
In the summer time she ate grass. If the grass was equal in nour- 
ishment to our bluegrass, we find by referring to chemical analysis 
that she had to eat approximately 50 pounds daily to meet her re- 
quirements — that is, provided she weighed 1,000 pounds. As a 
matter of fact, she probably -did not eat that much. She required 
less, for she was a smaller animal, and, therefore, needed propor- 
tionately less food. If she weighed only 500 pounds she needed only 
25 pounds of green grass to take care of her needs. Sometimes she 
was able to secure more and sometimes less, and, fortunately, in the 
beginning nature provided for just this circumstance. She endowed 
the animal with power to store up fat in and on the body during the 
months when food was plentiful that she might draw upon this sur- 
plus fat and tide her life over those periods of the year when she 
could not find enough food to provide even a maintenance ration. 
Oftentimes vdrouth and long, severe winters made her food supply 
so short that^ after gra4iuaUy using up all the surplus fat she had 
stored up, and failing to fin4 enough food to furnish a life-sustaining 
ration, she died of starv.^1:ioja.. 

A valuable lesson is i<i> fee 4<S:riy(e4 from these facts. No dairy- 
man will succeed who does not le^r^ it and keep ;the essential points 
uof it uppermost in his mind. For thou^ariads of ye^rs it has been the 
cow's privilege to provide for her own maintenance first, and not 
in 10,000 years can she be robbed of that privilege. Therefore, .the 
first .07 pound of digestible protein, .7 pound of carbohydrates and 
^01 pound of digestible fat she has always taken, takes now and al- 



Applying the Knowledge of Feeds 205 

ways will take for each 100 pounds of live weight to maintain her 
body. She takes a little more for developing the calf she perchance 
may carry and only that which she eats in addition to this amount, 
which is rightfully hers, does she use to convert into fat to lay on 
body or place in her owner's milk pail. 

When in her original state, if all went well and the food supply 
was sufficient, the cow maintained herself, developed her unborn calf 
and became fat. These were the provisions of nature. As she ap- 
proached parturition what udder she had filled and she gave birth to 
a miniature likeness of herself, which she nursed, then hid away in 
the bushes and went in search of food. Regularly and often she re- 
turned to feed her baby until such time as it was strong enough to 
follow her on her foraging trips. At frequent intervals the young- 
ster tugged at its mother's teats, for she gave barely enough milk to 
feed it, and at no time did she furnish an over-supply. The calf grew 
vigorously, and in a few months — three or four perhaps — it reached 
the age where it was able to seek its own subsistence without the 
aid of the mother. It, therefore, became weaned and the cow went dry 
that she might take care of herself for a repetition of the ordeal. 
The calf became a beast of the plains or forest, subject to the law 
of the survival of the fittest. If it was strong, vigorous and worthy it 
lived to maintain itself and reproduce its likeness, but if weak and 
unworthy it failed in the mission for which it was born, and it died. 
In other words, the- maternal, or motherly, instincts of the cow im- 
pelled her to give milk, the life-sustaining food, for her infant. This 
instinct, pronounced as it was when the calf was first born, grad- 
ually decreased as the youngster grew, and as this instinct decreased 
the milk flow diminished and no power could increase it again ex- 
cept the power of nature through the renewal of motherhood and the 
milk-making instincts that motherhood intensifies. 

Recognizing that milk had value as a food, man chose the cow 
from among the multitudes of wild animals, for she gave proof of 
her superiority over all other mammals. In the beginning, he de- 
pended entirely upon nature's food and methods for stimulating a 
supply of milk for him. He caught a fresh cow and her calf; killed 
the latter for veal and milked the former as long as her motherly 
instincts and the feed she could find between milkings impelled her 
to produce. When she went dry, all that was necessary was to catch 
another cow and repeat the performance. Dame Nature did it all in 
those days. 

But man has never been satisfied with letting well enough alone. 
It was never meant that he should be. Nature merely makes it pos- 
sible for man to do things and lays down the laws, which, if intelli- 



206 Feeding the Dairy Cow 

gently followed, will make for success, but, if disregarded, bring 
failure. She co-operates with man in his attempts to improve upon 
her methods, but she absolutely refuses to permit him to substitute 
his laws for hers. Therefore, the improved cow of today and the 
greatness of her production are but the results of men working with 
nature, perfecting her laws and thereby patiently increasing the milk 
flow, lengthening the milking period and molding the form of man's 
best friend, the dairy cow. 

The laws that are followed in making the cow great are as 
stringent today as they were when the cow was first robbed of her 
freedom. It is equally as necessary to comply with the first law, 
which makes milk production possible — the law which compels the 
cow to give milk, to feed her young, by so intensifying the mother 
instinct that she will sacrifice her own body to feed the infant of 
her own flesh and blood. 

I have dwelt upon this phase of the feeding subject because 
without a clear knowledge of these truths no man can feed cows suc- 
cessfully. With a clear conception of them he secures a very dif- 
ferent viewpoint of how to feed the dairy cow. He knows where to 
begin and how to proceed. This is the big secret, for little does it 
profit to know how to proceed if where to begin is not known, or 
vice versa. Nature used to take from six to eight months to prepare 
a cow for freshening, but man has learned to do the work in six or 
eight weeks. So, when the cow is within eight weeks of freshening 
she should be turned dry. Common cows usually go dry of their 
own accord, but it is often hard to turn cows dry that are extra good 
individuals and highly bred along milk-producing lines. To do so 
requires placing the cow on a mere maintenance ration — one which 
does not provide any nutrients for milk-making purposes and one 
which does not stimulate the cow to rob her own body to produce 
milk for her master. This is the first ration every feeder should 
know how to formulate. 

Already we have learned that for maintenance purposes the cow 
needs .07 pound digestible protein, .7 pound carbohydrates and .01 
pound digestible fat per 100 pounds live weight. She needs just 10 
times this much if she weighs 1,000 pounds, so the problem is that 
of giving her just enough feed to accomplish the specific purpose of 
maintaining her body, for it is unwise to decrease her ration so 
greatly that she will lose flesh at this particular time, as will be 
seen later. 



CHAPTER XXXIII. 

FEEDING THE DRY COW 

It is generally known by thoughtful dairymen that such foods 
as timothy hay and corn stover are about as lacking in milk-stimu- 
lating properties as any foods known. Furthermore, they are usually 
available for some reason or other on nearly every American farm. 
Therefore, it is safe to suggest that an attempt be made to provide 
a maintenance ration of such feed. With no other foods available, a 
1,000-pound cow will eat approximately 20 pounds of timothy hay in 
a day. Now, by referring back to Chapter XVIII, the analyses of 
timothy hay and other carbonaceous roughages can be found, and 
any one or more of them may be used for compounding a mainte- 
nance ration in the same way as follows with timothy hay. Of this 
roughage 100 pounds contains in a digestible form 3 pounds of pro- 
tein, 42.8 pounds of carbohydrates and 1.2 pounds of fat. Dividing 
these figures by five, because the 20 pounds the cow is to eat is one- 
fifth of 100 pounds, the result shows that she secures .6 pound of 
protein, 8.5 pounds of carbohydrates and .24 pound of fat — hardly 
a maintenance ration fxom the standpoint of furnishing protein, al- 
though it supplies a trifle more carbohydrates and fat than are nec- 
essary. It would not be wise to keep the cow on such a ration long, 
because additional protein is very necessary at this time for grow- 
ing the unborn calf. However, it will not be found necessary to use 
this ration long, for if the cow is milked irregularly, only often 
enough to relieve pressure on her udder and then milked only par- 
tially dry, she will cease giving milk in a few days. 

Timothy hay is expensive to use, even for turning cows dry, so 
let us see how corn stover will serve the purpose. Of this roughage, 
20 pounds furnishes in digestible form .42 pound of protein, 8.5 
pounds of carbohydrates and .14 pound fat — a ration just a little 
more deficient in protein and fat than timothy hay and one that can 
be used with equal success in turning cows dry. This should illus- 
trate, in a conclusive manner, the folly one practices in compelling 
his cows to seek nutriment from carbonaceous roughages alone, ex- 
pecting them to produce milk therefrom. They are just barely good 
enough to use for turning cows ary. 

On the other hand, supposing the cow were given 20 pounds of 
clover hay daily. From this she would receive in a digestible form 
1.5 pounds of protein, 7.8 pounds of carbohydrates and .36 pound of 
fat. This would furnish her with just about the right amount of 



208 Feeding the Dairy Cow 

energy-making material, but more than twice as much protein or 
' milk-stimulating material as would be necessary to maintain her 
body. This would be a better ration to use, provided success could 
be attained in turning the cow dry, because there would remain .8 
pound of protein, which would be sufficient ior stimulating growth 
of the unborn calf. Therefore, the conclusion may well be drawn 
that clover hay is much superior to the carbonaceous roughages for 
feeding dairy cows, even for turning them dry, except in special in- 
stances where an exceedingly persistent cow is found, when it will 
be necessary and advisable to place her in a stall or dry lot and feed 
her nothing except timothy hay, corn stover, or some other such dry 
roughage for a few days. 

Feeding the Dry Cow 

When the purpose of turning the. cow dry has been accom- 
plished, an altogether difTei-ent kind of ration is necessary, for dif- 
ferent purposes are now to be achieved.. Whenever a ration suit- 
able for performing definite, desired purposes is formulated, that ra- 
tion is truly a well-balanced one. No other is. 

In preparing a cow to freshen, there are three well-defined pur- 
poses for which she should be fed : 

First, to complete the growth and development of the unborn 
calf. 

Second, to rest and render most helpful the digestive system. 

Third, to store up vigor, strength, stamina and fat in and on 
the body to be used after she freshens. 

From the day the cow becomes pregnant, development in utero 
takes place. Gradually the embryo grows, being furnished nourish- 
ment taken from the food eaten by the mother and carried by the 

^'°o^- Nourishing the Embryo 

During the first few months of gestation the cow is not drawn 
upon for a great amount of nourishment because the growth of the 
embryo is small, but, as it develops into the foetal stage, more nutri- 
ment is required, until during the last two months of gestation, when 
the growth is greatest, a considerable amount of food nutrients is 
necessary for proper development. This fact is too often overlooked 
by men who milk cows. It is not uncommon to hear dairymen and 
even breeders of dairy cattle boast of the fact that certain ones of 
their cows never go dry. So highly developed along milk-producing 
lines are such cows that they not only sacrifice their own bodies but 
those of their offspring in order to yield persistently that for which 
they have been so intensely bred. 

Many dairymen have not been far-sighted in this respect and this 
fact, to no small extent, is accountable for many weak, puny and 



Feeding the Dry Cow 209 

still-born calves that make their appearance on dairy farms. It is a 
well-known fact that a calf seriously stunted in its development at 
any time from birth to maturity does not grow into the great animal 
it otherwise would. Now, it is equally true that the calf whose 
growth and development are checked and stunted prior to birth is 
not only robbed of its right to be born strong, rugged and vigorous, 
but I am confident that many of its superior characteristics are ren- 
dered latent to the extent that no degree of good care, feed and man- 
agement, following the date of its birth, suffice to render dominant 
the characteristics during its life and there is a probability that such 
characteristics are not transmitted to the animal's ofifspring. At any 
rate, he who would breed and develop most desirable animals must 
give consideration to development in utero. 

At birth the body of the calf contains very little fat. It is largely 
water, and what dry matter there is represents bone, muscle, car- 
tilaginous material, tissue, blood and hair. Carbohydrates and fat 
derived from foodstuffs play no part in developing these. They are 
made exclusively from protein and mineral matter. This indicates 
that, especially during the last six or eight weeks of gestation, the 
cow should be liberally fed of these food constituents, if proper de- 
velopment of the foetus is to result. Furthermore, it indicates the 
ad^rsability of having the cow dry at this time because milk also 
draws largely^ upon the protein and mineral constituents for its man- 
ufacture. If they are used to make milk, they are not available for 

anv other purpose. t-» • -r^. • 

Resting Digestion 

The large-producing cow is the hardest worked animal on the 
farm. Even the cow that yields only 20 pounds of 4^ per cent milk 
daily, which is not an extremely large average daily production for a 
good cow for a year, yields in seven days an amount of fat — and fat 
equivalent — in excess of that produced by a steer gaining 15 pounds 
per week, and in addition the cow gives her owner six times as much 
protein or nitrogenous material and six times as much mineral mat- 
ter. Moreover, her product is all edible and so largely digestible in 
comparison with the steer's product that the actual comparison is 
even greater. 

Now, milk is made from nothing except the food which the cow- 
eats, digests and assimilates. To produce largely, to maintain her 
own body, and to develop the foetus requires that the cow handle 
large tonnages of concentrated feeds and roughages during the year. 
Her digestive apparatus is ever at work, day and night, grinding and 
digesting. It is the most heavily taxed portion of the cow and the 
first to weaken under continuous work and heavy feeding. The wis- 
dom of providing a ration that will prove restful to the digestive 



210 ' Feeding the Dairy Cow 

system for a month or so is therefore apparent. In providing a suit- 
able ration for the resting period, this thought should be kept in 
mind, for, although the feed given the cow at this time should be 
favorable to the digestive system, it must also be feed that will ren- 
der the cow fit for freshening and starting immediately on another 
year's milking campaign. 

Storing Up Surplus 

The amount of strength, vigor, stamina and fat the feeder suc- 
ceeds in storing upon and in the animal's body prior to freshening 
determines to a great extent the character of the cow's work after 
freshening. If she is a good dairy cow and has been properly fed 
during her lactation period, she is in a poor and emaciated condition 
when the time comes to turn her dry. She has only a few weeks to 
recuperate and prepare herself. If she is permitted to freshen with- 
out being properly prepared, there is no more reason to expect that 
she will produce satisfactorily during the coming period of lactation 
than there is to expect that a horse will race satisfactorily without 
being conditioned for his work. 

Cows that freshen in a poor and emaciated condition test lower, 
milk less and, because they lack stamina, they are much less per- 
sistent than cows that are freshened properly. There is a certain 
condition of flesh and bloom that every cow should possess at par- 
turition time in order that she may deliver with expediency a strong, 
healthy, rugged calf, clean well and start strongly producing milk, 
without it being necessary to immediately begin feeding her heavily. 
This condition depends absolutely upon the manner in which she 
has been cared for and fed during her resting period. The ration, 
provided her at this time should be one that will provide carbo- 
hydrates and fat in abundance for manufacturing a surplus amount 
of fat to be stored up in the body, and it should also be of such char- 
acter that it will impart strength, vitality and stamina. 

Without fear of successful contradiction, even though I realize 
that many believe because a cow is not giving milk she needs to be 
fed only sparingly and permitted to wrestle her feed from dry pas-, 
ture, stalk fields or around straw stacks, I wish to go on record as 
saying that at no other time should a cow be so liberally and judi- 
ciously fed as during the time she is resting. At no other time should 
her ration be so carefully balanced, because three purposes are to be 
achieved, in addition to maintaining the cow's body, while at other 
periods only one major purpose is necessary for consideration. ' No 
oTcater mistake is made by dairymen than that of overlooking the 
absolute necessity of resting their cows, feeding the calves prior to 
birth and conditioning the animal for her work. He who refuses to 



Feeding the Dry Cow 211 

do this should retire from the dairy business, for success is not for 
him. Regardless of how well bred they are and how great is the 
ability of his cows to produce largely and persistently, they will 
never do their best, by a long ways, for so thoughtless an owner. 

A ration suitable for the purpose, as has already been sug- 
gested, must be a complete ration, furnishing all nutrients. In case 
it is summer time, no combination of feeds will prove better than 
pasture grasses in abundance, supplemented with a bit of ground 
corn, ground oats and oil meal. Those who have turned their cows 
dry in April and permitted them to graze on the pastures during 
May and June and freshen early in July have seen the cows in most 
admirable condition for parturition. They have seen those cows 
produce strong, healthy, vigorous calves; develop large, distended 
udders and start in producing exceptionally large volumes of milk. 
This should not imply, however, that if the cow is to freshen during 
the latter months of summer or the early months of fall that pas- 
tures should be depended upon to fit her for freshening. On the 
other hand, if pastures are short and dry and insects are pesky, as is 
so often the case, the cow will have a difilicult time securing enough 
food for them to maintain herself without doing anything else. So, 
if pasturage conditions are such it is very essential that the same 
feeding principles be practiced as would be followed were the cow 
to freshen in the winter, except that green foods, or soiling crops, 
can be substituted for hay and ensilage, provided this is more con- 
venient and the latter is not available. 

Fall Freshening 

Thoughtful dairymen — other than those required to sell a given 
daily amount of milk throughout the year — freshen their cows in the 
fall. Their reasons for doing so are logical. Cows freshening in 
the fall will give from 10 to 25 per cent more milk and butterfat in 
a year than those freshening in the spring. Their product sells from 
10 to 25 per cent higher. Under usual conditions on the farm, there 
is more time to feed and care properly for cows in winter than in 
summer. Therefore, they receive better care. Better calves can be 
grown under winter conditions, and at time for weaning from milk 
they go onto grass and continue to thrive. Labor is more equally di- 
vided throughout the year, making it possible to keep the summer 
help over winter. This means the factory is running full time in- 
stead of only half time, and all manufacturers know that overhead 
expenses must be distributed over every week in the y«ar if the busi- 
ness is to be highly profitable. There are other good reasons for 
breeding cows to calve in the fall, but these are the important ones. 



212 Teeding the Dairy Cow 

Nature's Methods 

Let us assume, however, the cow is going to freshen the first of 
July. Although this is a better time than an earlier date, it is not 
an especially good time for dairy cows to freshen. It is a good time, 
though, to let one cow freshen, just so Dame Nature can demonstrate 
how the job ought to be done. She is a past master in doing a thing 
when she sets out to show man how that particular thing ought to 
be done, but that is as far as she goes. She assumes no responsibility 
further than this, and if man is not wise enough to learn from her 
simple, yet complete and expert, demonstrations, she makes it hard 
for him the rest of the year. 

To freshen the first of July, the cow should be turned dry the 
first of May before being turned to grass. When dry she should be 
put in the pasture where grass is most luxuriant and pure, fresh 
water plentiful and easily accessible. A box of salt should be placed 
so she can lick it whenever she chooses. Nature will do the rest. 
She will do it so well that her methods are worthy of any dairyman's 
study. 

Let us secure a clear mind's eye picture of just how she does. 
It will be the best lesson we can possibly learn on how the dairy cow 
should be fed and how she should be prepared for parturition. 

First of all, take notice of the temperature. It is neither too 
warm nor too cold. The cow is surrounded with all the fresh air she 
can breathe, and showered down on her and all around her is an 
abundance of warm sunshine. Over on the brook the sun shines 
and, even as it removes the cold from the air, it takes away the 
chill from the water. You see. Dame Nature is very smart. She 
knows better than to try to demonstrate feeding methods under ad- 
verse conditions. There are no foul-smelling, dark, damp, poorly 
ventilated barns or weather that is either too cold or too hot for the 
cow. She will not even try to do her best when cows are made un- 
comfortable with flies and other insects, and she insists on their 
having plenty of sunshine and warm water to drink, and freedom to 
exercise at will. With all of these conditions right, she turns her 
hand toward furnishing a balanced ration, and here is what she uses : 

Green, succulent, palatable, nutritious, easily digested food, 
which is composed of the nutrients, properly proportioned, in the 
manner which all scientific and practical investigations have conclu- 
sively shown to be necessary. 

The cow, surrounded by most comfortable conditions, eats all 
she possibly can of the excellent ration. Her digestive apparatus is 
rested, and every day, in addition to nourishing the foetus and main- 
taining her own body as it should be maintained, she stores up a lit- 
tle reserve fat, strength and stamina. 



Feeding the Dry Cow 213 

As parturition approaches, she finds herself in perfect condition. 
A reasonable wealth of soft fat covers her body. Her eye is clear 
and bright. She is vigorous, strong and healthy. Her hair is soil 
and silky and her hide is pliable, oily and elastic. Her udder is dis- 
tended almost to the point of bursting, and her mammary veins 
stand out along her underline, showing the largeness and perfect 
condition of the circulatory system. She is in perfect bloom. 

In most respects man can improve on the methods of nature, 
but in this particular instance, if man learns to imitate nature closely 
by furnishing proper conditions of environment and feed and thereby 
is successful in developing so excellent a degree of condition and 
bloom in his cows, he will succeed well. 

Now, assuming that the majority of dairymen are so far-sighted 
that they have planned to freshen their cows later, let us provide for 
the cow that is to freshen September 1st. This means she should 
be dry about July 1st. It may be a little hard to get her dry at that 
time, so it may be necessary to keep her in a dry lot for a few days 
with just timothy hay or straw to eat. When she is finally dry she 
may go back to the pasture where the grass is best. If the pasture 
is good and furnishes shade and an abundance of fresh water, she 
will do very well as long as the grass is plentiful. Occasionally 
there is a year when grass grows well all summer, and occasionally 
there is a dairyman who farms his pastures and so intelligently 
stocks them that they are always good when the weather permits 
grazing. But so seldom do these conditions prevail that it is best to 
take it for granted that along in July and August it is going to be- 
come hot and dry ; the grass is going to fail ; the weather is going to 
become extremely hot and the insects pesky. Then the cow will 
suffer. She will get barely enough dry, unpalatable, dusty grass to 
maintain her own body. To complete the development of the foetus 
she must draw upon the reserve she stored up when the pasture was 
good. If she uses her reserve for this purpose, she will not have it 
to make into milk and butterfat later. The dairyman who permits 
her to do this makes such a serious mistake in his management that 
he sacrifices success. 

Therefore, when pastures begin getting poor, it is time to begin 
feeding. Nothing is more valuable for this purpose than summer 
silage, and there is no more economical fepd. If available, give the 
cow daily all of it she will eat. Supplement with a liberal allowance 
of good clover or alfalfa hay. If these are not available, fresh sheaf 
oats fed liberally will be excellent, or, if far-sightedness has pro- 
vided a patch of soiling crop, green feed from this source will offer 
an excellent food supply. Which plan is followed depends upon 



214 Feeding the Dairy Cow 

conditions. Either plan is simple and inexpensive. Either will suf- 
fice to freshen the cow properly just as surely as it provides succu- 
lent, laxative food in sufficient abundance to keep the cow increas- 
ing in flesh, weighty vigor and health each day. 

Winter Freshening 

If the cow is to freshen after pasture grasses are gone, the prob- 
lem of conditioning her will be more difficult. However, if stabling 
conditions are as they should be, windows will admit warm rays of 
sunshine, a ventilating system will furnish the fresh air, the stable 
will be warm, a sheltered barn lot will provide for exercise, and the 
task of furnishing warm, fresh water will not be difficult. The 
silo, or the root cellar, will furnish the succulence for the ration in a 
palatable, easily digested form and also a large percentage of the 
necessary carbohydrates and fat. These succulent foods should not 
be overfed, however, but if the cow is given about 3 pounds daily 
for each 100 pounds of live weight, she will not be overfed. In ad' 
dition to this, if she is given 1.5 pounds of clover hay or a like 
amount of any other leguminous hay per 100 pounds live weight 
daily, she will be supplied with almost as much nutriment as she 
gathered daily from luxuriant pastures. To make up the remainder, 
she may be supplied with a small concentrated ration composed of 
light, bulky^ laxative foods. A mixture of five parts ground oats, 
three parts bran and one part linseed meal is excellent for this pur- 
pose. Such a ration is bulky, easily digested, and has a cooling, lax- 
ative effect upon the digestive apparatus, even though fed in large 
amounts. 

It is conceded that ground oats has greater power than any 
other foodstuff in imparting stamina to the animal, so that, even 
though it may be considered too expensive to feed at other periods, 
one is justified in using it for this particular purpose. In nearly every 
section these three feeds are available, at least to the extent of se- 
curing them in amounts sufficient for preparing cows for freshen- 
ing, and, owing to the fact that it is difficult to supply satisfactory 
substitutes for them, it will be advisable to adhere to their use. The 
amount to feed daily can be determined only by the condition of the 
cow. Suffice to say that she should be fed according to the best 
judgment of her feeder. From 4 to 8 pounds daily should be 
enough, but if it appears that she will not reach the proper state of 
bloom on this amount, she should be fed more, even as much as 1 
pound daily per 100 pounds live weight, if necessary. 

If succulent foods, such as silage, root crop or beet pulp, are 
not available, it will be advisable to moisten the concentrated ration 
and, where possible, it will be found highly profitable to cut a por- 



Feeding the Dry Cow 215 

tion of the hay into quarter-inch lengths and moisten thoroughly 2 
or 3 pounds of this to be added to each feed given the cow. In a 
way this will take the place of naturally succulent food and aid in 
maintaining the proper degree of laxativeness of the ration. 

Attention When Calving 

Regardless of the season of the year when the cow freshens, she 
should be conveniently located so as to be given attention when 
calving. This will make it convenient to place her on a mash a few 
days prior to freshening. Nearly all cows must be taught to eat 
sloppy foods, and this is advisable, for nothing will help in doctoring 
a cow more than to have her so fond of mashes that she will eat these 
even when she will eat no other food. The best time to teach her 
that mashes are palatable is just prior to calving, when they are so 
useful. An excellent mash can be made by mixing with 1 pound of 
bran, 1 pound of ground oats and 1 pound of oil meal, a small hand- 
ful of salt and enough warm water to thoroughly soften it. To teach 
a cow to eat a mash it will be found necessary oftentimes to begin 
by offering the food just barely moistened. This mash if fed twice 
daily will insure the proper degree of looseness of bowels so the cow 
should calve and clean normally. At best, she wnll then be in a fe- 
vered condition, which the mashes will tend to reduce. In fact, the 
mash should be her only food in addition to hay and a limited amount 
of succulent food for three days following parturition. 



CHAPTER XXXIV. 

MILK FEVER 

Cows that milk largely and test richly are always susceptible to 
milk fever, and the more fleshy, vigorous, and strong the condition 
in which they freshen, the more liable they are to be attacked with 
milk fever, which usually makes its appearance at some time during 
the first 48 hours after calving. Before the discovery of oxygen 
and air as cures for milk fever, large production was necessarily sac- 
rificed, for in the majority of cases cows died if they had it. It was, 
therefore, not advisable to prepare them so carefully for freshening, 
and thereby large production was sacrificed. 

It is interesting to note that the making of large records began 
shortly after the time when the oxygen and air treatments for milk 
fever were discovered. Where this disease was formerly greatly to 
be dreaded in that 98 per cent of the cows which were attacked by 
it died, little is thought of it nowadays, so seldom^ does a cow die be- 
cause of it. More than this, the disease should be prevented if pos- 
sible because cows having suffered from even a mild attack fail to 
produce as well as though preventive measures succeed. 

Preventive Measures 

An ounce and a half of epsom salts per hundred pounds live 
weight, dissolved in a quart of water and administered carefully as a 
drench 24 hours before calving, is advisable. If for any reason this 
precaution is not taken it is especially advisable to give the epsom 
salts drench to a heavy milking, rich-testing cow in plethoric condi- 
tion provided calf birth has been easy and non-exhausting. The 
epsom salts have a cooling effect upon the animal's system and assure 
a laxative condition of the digestive apparatus. 

It is, furthermore, but the part of wisdom not to milk the cow 
for 48 hours following parturition, for it is during this period that milk 
fever is most to be expected, although occasionally cases have been 
known prior to calving and later than 48 hours afterward. 

If these precautions are taken, only enough milk being removed 
from each quarter of the udder to feed the calf and to relieve excess- 
ive udder pressure, the danger of an attack of milk fever is reduced 
to the minimum. There is always a likelihood that high-producing, 
well fitted cows, other than those with first calves (which do not have 
milk fever), will show symptoms within 48 hours following parturition 
in spite of all precautions that may be taken. For this reason the cow 
should be watched carefully that the first symptoms of the disease may 



Milk Fever 217 

be detected and treatment applied at once, because if intercepted in 
the first stages the cow quickly recovers and the ill effects are so 
greatly lessened as to be almost negligible. 

Milk Fever Symptoms 

Nearly every dairyman and breeder of high-quality dairy cattle 
knows the symptoms of. milk fever. The cow first becomes slightly 
excited and restless. She switches her tail, treads with her hind feet, 
moves about uneasily and bellows occasionally. In a short time she 
appears weak in the hind quarters, staggers as she attempts to walk 
and soon gives up, sinking to the floor. She finds herself unable to 
rise and then ceases to pay any attention to her calf or other surround- 
ings. She partially closes her eyes and, as she becomes paralyzed, 
throws her head around on her side and lies in a quiet comatose 
condition. 

The pulse is weak and her temperature, which as a rule rises with 
the first symptoms, sinks three or four degrees below normal. If left 
without treatment the cow in this condition will die in from 24 to 72 
hours without regaining consciousness. So certain is death under 
such conditions that one could ill afford to own the very best cows 
and properly prepare, them for freshening before the discovery of a 
reliable form of cure for milk fever. 

Milk Fever Treatment 

The following description of how to treat and cure milk fever is 
outlined so fully by John R. Mohler of the United States Department 
of Agriculture that it is quoted here from Farmers' Bulletin No. 206 : 

*'Of all known methods of treating milk fever, the injection of 
sterile atmospheric air into the udder is by far the most simple and 
practicable as well as the most efficacious and harmless one at our 
disposal, and only occasionally requires that medicinal treatment be 
given. 

"For a considerable length of time the entire value of Schmidt's 
treatment was considered to be the antitoxic action of potassium 
iodide, and soon numerous investigators began injecting various other 
antiseptics, such as carbolic acid, creolin, etc., with equally good re- 
sults. Sterile water and sterile salt solution were tried with no in- 
crease in the mortality, and it was, therefore, considered that the dis- 
tention of the udder was as important a factor as the antitoxic action 
of the iodide of potash. Continuing along these lines, Kortman used 
antiseptic gases (etherized air) with beneficial results. Oxygen was 
then tried by Knusel with increasing success, and the deaths among 
the experimental cases virtually ceased. The apparatus for treating 
with oxygen and etherized air, however, are expensive and cumber- 
some, and this greatly limits their use by the average practitioner. 



218 



Feeding the Dairy Cow 



"To Anderson, of Skanderborg, belongs the credit of first having" 
made use of plain atmospheric air, although Schmidt had previously 
recommended the admittance of air with the potassium iodide solution 
for the purpose of obtaining greater diffusion of the liquid. Anderson 
first injected air along with sterile water, and then by itself. The re- 
sults were astonishingly successful. Thus Schmidt reports that out 
of 914 cases treated in Denmark, 884, or 96.7 per cent, were restored 
to health. The record of 140 of these animals shows that recovery 
occurred in the average time of six and two-thirds hours. Of this 



Apparatus for in- 
jecting sterile 
atmospheric air in- 
to the udder. 




number 25 cases required a second injection, while in three of the 
latter number it w^as necessary to give a third treatment before they 
were able to get upon their feet. The treatment is also practically 
harmless, as the statistics of the above mentioned 914 patients show 
that only one cow was aflfected with a severe attack of caked bag after 



Milk Fever 219 

this treatment, while in four other cows a milder inflammation of the 
udder was apparent. Equally good results have likewise been ob- 
tained in this country. 

"The method of injecting filtered air into the udder is easy of 
manipulation, requires but little time, and is readily accomplished by 
means of a milk-fever apparatus, such as is illustrated. It consists 
of a metal cylinder (f) with milled screw-caps (c) and (d) on either 
end. Cap (c) may be removed in order to place sterile absorbent 
cotton within the chamber. To this cap the rubber bellows (a) and 
(b) are connected by 9 inches of rubber tubing. Cap (d) is to be 
removed together with the attached 18 inches of rubber hose, at the 
free end of which is the self-retaining milking tube (g), for the pur- 
pose of disinfection before treating each case. The pulling on or off 
of the tubing on the nozzles of the milled caps is thus rendered un- 
necessary. Within the metal cylinder at (e) is a wire net, which pre- 
vents the obstruction of the outlet of the chamber by holding back 
the sterile cotton, and also permits of the unscrewing of the lower 
cap and the disinfection of this portion of the apparatus, including the 
milking tube, without contaminating the packing. Absorbent cotton 
impregnated with carbolic acid (carbolized cotton) or other suitable 
disinfectant can be purchased from the drug trade in most localities, 
and is better, though slightly more expensive, than the plain cotton. 

"Previous to making the air injection, the hands of the operator 
should be thoroughly cleansed and the udder should receive the same 
careful antiseptic treatment as has been recommended in discussing 
the injection of potassium iodide. Soap and water should be applied 
to the teats and udder, after which they should be carefully disin- 
fected with a 5 per cent solution of carbolic acid (three tablespoon- 
fuls of pure carbolic acid to one quart of water). A clean towel 
should then be placed under the udder to prevent the teats from com- 
ing in contact with dirt or filth of any kind. The milking tube, before 
it is placed in the teat, should have been perfectly sterilized by boiling 
for 15 minutes, with the lower hose and cap of the cylinder attached, 
and the apparatus should be wrapped in a clean towel, without touch- 
ing the milking tube, to prevent contamination before use. If the 
apparatus has been subjected to this treatment shortly before, and it 
is desired to disinfect only the milking tube, the latter may be placed in 
a 5 per cent solution of carbolic acid for five minutes. It is then 
carefully inserted into the milk duct of the teat without emptying the 
udder of milk. Air is now pumped from the bulb (a) into the reser- 
voir (b), and thus a continuous flow of air is forced through the filter- 
ing chamber and into the udder. Slight massage or kneading of the 
udder will cause the innermost recesses of the milk tubules to become 



220 Feeding the Dairy Cow 

distended with the injected air. After one-quarter of the udder is 
well distended the milking tube is removed, care being taken to pre- 
vent the outflow of air by having an assistant tie a broad piece of tape 
about the teat at the time the milking tube is withdrawn. The same 
treatment is repeated with the other three teats until the udder is 
satisfactorily distended. In case the air becomes absorbed and no 
improvement is noted within five hours, a repetition of this treatment 
should be made under the same antiseptic precautions as at first. The 
tape should be removed from the teats two or three hours after the 
cow gets on her feet, constricting muscles at the tip of the teats 
being now depended on for retaining the air. In this manner the air 
may be left in the udder for 24 hours, and when recovery is assured, 
it should be gradually milked out. It is needless to say that the calf 
should not be permitted to suck during this period. 

"Inflammation of the udder (caked bag) is avoided if the milking 
tube is thoroughly disinfected before each application, and if the 
cow's teats and bag and the hands of the operator have been properly 
cleansed. If th'e apparatus is kept in its case free from dust and dirt, 
the absorbent or medicated cotton in the metal cylinder will effi- 
ciently filter enough air to distend the udders of six cows. After this 
number has been treated it is advisable to replace the old cotton with 
a fresh sterile supply, which should be placed loosely in the cylinder. 

"While this method of treating milk fever is a comparatively 
easy one for a farmer or dairyman to adopt, he cannot expect to have 
the same successful results as those obtained by a skilled veterinarian, 
and it is therefore advisable that the services of such a veterinarian 
should always be obtained in those districts where it is possible. In 
many cases it will be found that the injection of air into the udder 
will be sufficient to combat the disease without any other treatment, 
but it is always advisable to study the symptoms of each individual 
case and administer in a rational manner the indicated medicines." 

Milk fever is not the only trouble to which the newly freshened 
cow is susceptible. In fact, the most trying periods of her life are 
those experienced at calving time. Proper feeding prior to par- 
turition usually insures prompt and thorough cleaning. Even so, it is 
advisable to cleanse carefully and efficiently the vaginal tract with a 
mild disinfectant solution daily for the first week and then twice a 
week until the cow is rebred. No procedure will help more to keep 
contagious abortion and sterility out of a healthy herd or eliminate 
these difficulties from an infected herd than to make this a rule and 
follow it with every cow in the herd. Cows that do not clean promptly 
should be assisted within 48 hours and the same systematic treatment 
followed, because no amount of care and no system of feeding will 



Milk Fever 221 

stimulate large and profitable production from a cow that has not 
fully recovered from the process of parturition. Herein rests the 
reason for many of the disappointments that result from low produc- 
tion ; and no dairyman or breeder can expect to keep a healthy, highly 
productive herd who overlooks providing the best possible care, feed 
and management at parturition time. 



CHAPTER XXXV. 

FEED AND CARE AFTER FRESHENING 

When a cow freshens her entire system is in a feverish condition. 
This is especially noticeable in the inflammation that centers in the 
udder. Properly fed and cared for, the inflammation is soon removed, 
but careless feeding and poor management at this period are largely 
accountable for the many spoiled udders so generally in evidence in 
dairy herds. As soon as the cow freshens the teats should be tried 
to ascertain if each is in working order. Occasionally it is found that 
an obstruction has developed, closing one of the teats. If attention 
is immediately given with the assistance of a skillful veterinarian and 
his instruments, little trouble is experienced in saving the quarter of 
the udder that would otherwise be lost. 

Udder Inflammation 

Plethoric condition is conducive to additional udder inflamma- 
tion, indicating that as the dairyman improves his methods of feeding 
he must also improve his methods of management. However, because 
the cow has been properly fitted before freshening it is unnecessary 
to feed her heavily immediately afterward, so that the inflammation 
is less dangerous and less conducive to permanent udder troubles than 
though the condition of the cow were so poor that heavy feeding 
were necessary. It is wise, however, to begin the third day after the 
calf is born to milk the cow as frequently as three times a day in 
order to rapidly relieve this inflammation. Carefully rubbing, massag- 
ing and fomenting the udder with hot water will hasten the result 
of bringing it to normal form and condition. 

If a seven-day record is the purpose, it will be necessary to handle 
the cow differently than though she is to be worked for a year. Owing 
to the fact that seven-day records are ill-advised under ordinary dairy 
conditions and are used merely for demonstrating what can be done 
with a cow in a short period of time, it is not necessary to treat of 
this phase of the feeding subject in a discussion on practical feeding. 

Feed Lightly 

For the welfare of the cow it is not advisable to crowd her with 
heavy rations immediately after freshening. In proof of which state- 
ment one needs only to have knowledge of the great number of cows 
with spoiled udders and other evidences of ruin which have resulted 
from heavy feeding immediately following calving. If the cow is ex- 
pected to perform largely and persistently throughout an entire period 



Feed and Care after P'^resiientng 223 

of lactation, it is well to bear in mind that parturition has weakened 
her and she should be brought to full feed and to the climax of her 
production slowly and gradually. The feeding prior to parturition 
makes this possible and the purpose for which the ration should be 
balanced now is to so stimulate milk production that the surplus fat 
stored up by the cow will be gradually converted into milk and butter- 
fat. This requires a narrow ration, or one with a large percentage 
of protein in proportion to carbohydrates and fat. If winter condi- 
tions prevail, the cow should be fed liberally of a leguminous hay and 
a succulent food. If it is summer and pastures are available, she 
should be allowed to graze, unless heat and flies are bad, in which 
event she should be kept stabled in a well-ventilated barn properly 
screened or darkened during the day time, having green feed or sum- 
mer silage brought to her, and pastured only in the cool of the even- 
ing, at night and early in the morning. She should be fed in addi- 
tion to this 5 pounds of a concentrated ration, consisting of, or equiv- 
alent to, one part linseed meal, two parts ground oats and two parts 
bran. Oil meal is specified instead of gluten feed, gluten meal, cot- 
tonseed meal or other such heavy protein feeds because it is less liable 
at this time to cause udder troubles, and, associated with oats and 
bran, forms a ration that is very laxative, easy to digest, bulky and 
palatable. 

Moreover, it is advisable to avoid fattening foods, such as corn 
and hominy feed, because these will tend to further fatten the cow 
rather than impel her to go to work in earnest making milk and butter- 
fat at the expense of the reserve body fat she stored up while dry and 
resting. 

It now becomes evident that not only has efficient preparation 
caused the cow to freshen in the pink of condition with udder de- 
veloped to proportions almost unbelievable, but her condition is such 
that it is unnecessary to feed her heavily at the risk of ruining her 
digestive apparatus and her udder. And, incidentally, it may well be 
said that more cows are low producers because they are not prop- 
erly rested, fed and conditioned before freshening, and more cows are 
ruined by overfeeding during the first 30 days following freshening 
than by any other cause. 

Furthermore, it is plainly seen that not only will more milk 
and butterfat be secured from the cow in good condition but a great 
saving in feed will be experienced. In other words, the feed given in 
conditioning the cow has not been wasted. Far from it. In fact, it 
always proves to be a source of greater profit than though it were 
fed the cow at any other period of the year. Instead of being made 
directly into milk and butterfat it is first made into body fat for 
protecting the strength of the cow when she needs to be strong and is 



224 Feeding the Dairy Cow 

later converted into butterfat — provided the cow is rightly fed after 
freshening. 

Before proceeding further, the feeder should bear in mind that a 
cow will increase in production as largely by raising the ration 1 
pound as she will if the ration is raised 4 or 5 pounds at a time. When 
experience teaches him the truth of this assertion, he can readily see 
the advisability of raising the ration often by small amounts rather 
than by large amounts less often, for through this system he is able 
to secure a larger milk flow when the cow finally reaches the point 
where she is consuming all the food she is able to handle. 

It is a good plan, therefore, to raise the ration the first few days 
after she is on feed at the rate of only one-half pound each alternate 
day. After she has gained in strength and is found to be milking 
largely, it is permissible and oftentimes advisable to raise the ration as 
much as 1 pound every other day for awhile, but as the cow ap- 
proaches the point where she is consuming a heavy ration, care de- 
mands that again the feeder satisfy himself with raising the ration only 
one-half pound each alternate day. 

Getting a Cow on Full Feed 

To definitely illustrate the proper plan of bringing a cow to full 
feed and to the climax of her production let us assume that a cow 
weighing 1,000 pounds has freshened and it is the latter part of 
August. She is just ready to start on dry concentrates the first day 
of September. As yet her udder is somewhat inflamed and her 
condition is hardly normal. She is still on pasture nights, but because 
the flies and heat are severe she is protected and fed silage or soiling 
crops in the day time. We will assume the cow is just a fairly good 
grade, the normal test of which is 4 per cent. 

By the use of a monthly feed sheet a record is kept of the feed fed 
and the milk produced each day. This record, compiled by the use 
of the scales, provides an absolute and very accurate guide for the 
feeder and also for the milker. Let it not be forgotten that clean 
milking and careful yet vigorous massaging of the udder must be fully 
recognized as factors influencing, to a large degree, the attainment of 
success from proper feeding methods. 

When the first month of the lactation period has been com- 
pleted the record should look something like the illustration on page 
227. 

To analyze the record is to become impressed with the fact that 
it has enabled the feeder to keep his hand on the pulse of the cow. It 
has enabled him to lead the cow instead of causing him to depend 
upon the cow to lead him. The rule which says, ''Feed 1 pound of 
feed for each 3 or 4 pounds of milk yielded," is a good one to use as 
a check on feeding operations, for it serves as an indicator and cau- 



Feed and Care After Freshening 



225 



tions the feeder against gross mistakes from overfeeding or under- 
feeding. Followed too closely, however, it results in the cow leading 
the feeder, and is, therefore, a system which eliminates the opportunity 
of stimulating the cow to reach the climax of her producing ability. 

For this same reason all proposed balanced rations, except 
the ration for maintenance, should be considered as guides that point 
the general procedure of the feeder rather than rules to be followed 
to the letter. 

The judgment and experience of the careful, intelligent, thought- 
ful feeder who has a knowledge of the chemical and physical proper- 
ties of the feeds available, and likewise a knowledge of the individual 
cow, are the really essential requirements. 

But bear in mind that both judgment and experience may be good 
or bad, and accordingly lead to either success or failure. Good judg- 
ment and good experience are the results of determined ambition to 
get large, profitable results, and this in turn leads to a study of the 
feeds available, of the cow to be fed and of the results attained daily 
in the attempt to lead the cow to do her best. 

This necessitates weighing the feed that composes the ration. 
It also necessitates keeping a daily record, so that, if at any time the 
cow loses in condition or fails to respond- in milk flow, the ration may 
be checked up or analyzed quickly to find the trouble, for even as 
rules and proposed rations will not alone sufiice, neither will expe- 
rience and judgment unaided serve infallibly. 

A combination of rules, proposed rations, experience and judg- 
ment — and this means a combination of science and practice — makes 
a successful feeder. 

In the case of the coav, Spot, the feeder assumed that a ration 
consisting of 2 pounds of ground oats, 2 pounds of bran and 1 pound of 
linseed meal would serve well to start her on. A ration was formed 
that was at once palatable, laxative, bulky, easily digested, and not 
inclined to aggravate udder troubles. 

To decide how closely it serves the purpose of encouraging the 
cow to begin promptly transferring the fat from her body to the pail, 
the ration is analyzed as follows, presuming that from pasture and 
soiling the cow is securing the equivalent of 25 pounds of corn silage 
and 10 pounds of clover hay : 





Protein 


Carbo- 
hydrates 


Fat 


Ground oats, 2 pounds 

Bran, 2 pounds 

Linseed meal, 1 pound 

Rouerhagre . . 


.188 

.250 

.302 

1.090 


1.008 
.832 
.326 

8.430 


.081 
.060 
.067 
390 






Total pounds digestible nutrients 


1.920 
.700 


10.346 
7.000 


.598 




.100 






Nutrients left for making milk 


.122 


3.346 


.498 



226 



Feeding the Dairy Cow 



According to Haecker's feeding standard, .054 pound of digestible 
protein is required for making 1 pound of 4 per cent milk: 1.220 di- 
vided by .054 equals 22 pounds — just enough for Spot according to 
the milk she is giving. According to Haecker, .24 pound of digestible 
carbohydrates are also necessary for making 1 pound of milk: 3.346 
divided by .24 equals 13. Of the digestible fat, .021 pound is also re- 
quired : .483 divided by .021 equals .23. 

There is enough digestible fat but not enough carbohydrates to 
make as much milk as the cow is yielding; but this is well, for the 
aim is to compel the cow to draw upon the surplus stored up in her 
body. 

Gradually the ration is raised, always being planned to make 
sure of a sufficient content of protein (the milk-stimulating nutrient) 
and an undersupply of carbohydrates. The result is that the cow 
gradually increases in milk flow. 

By the 9th of the month the udder and the cow's condition ap- 
proach normal so nearly that it is safe to add a heavier feed, such as 
cottonseed meal, to the ration, and a beginning is made with one-half 
pound to be increased to V/z pounds by the last of the month. 

By the middle of the month it is noted the cow has lost some 
flesh and is milking well. She must not be permitted to get poor, 
so one-half pound of corn meal, rich in carbohydrates, is added to the 
ration, this to be increased slowly as the month goes by. 

But, in this particular case, and in nearly all practical cases, there 
comes a time when the cow ceases to respond and her milk yield be- 
gins to decrease. In this instance the first indication presents itself 
on the milk sheet September 15th. 

What is wrong? Perhaps she has reached her milk-giving limit. 
Perhaps weather conditions are unfavorable. More likely her ration 
is out of adjustment. We will check up the ration and see if it is the 
seat of the trouble. Her ration is shown in the table on this page. 

When the total nutrients left for making milk are divided by the 
.054 pound of protein, .24 pound of carbohydrates and .021 pound of 
fat, respectively, the requirements for 1 pound of milk, according to 





Protein 


Carbo- 
hydrates 


Fat 


Ground oats, 3 pounds 

Ground corn, 1 pound 

Bran, 2 pounds 

Oil meal, 2 pounds 

Cottonseed meal, 1 pound 


.282 
.077 
.250 
.604 
.370 
1.090 


1.241 
.678 
,832 
.652 
.218 

8.430 " 


.123 
.046 
.060 
.134 
.086 
.390 






Total 

Maintenance requirements 


2.675 
.700 


12.021 
7.000 


.839 
.100 






Nutrients left for makingf milk 


1.975 


5.051 


.739 



Feed and Care after Freshening 



227 



Haecker, the results show the ration contains enough protein for 36.5 
pounds of milk, enough carbohydrates for 22.4 pounds and enough fat 
for 35 pounds. This indicates that the cow is drawing upon her re- 
serve, but to continue doing so and to increase further in milk produc- 
tion her ration should be changed promptly and, as she is advanced far 

MONTHLY FEED SHEET 



Name of Cow 

Born., Mi»-ch. Ik, 1*^01 



Freshened Eu^VJ.iT ^.a^^^i^ 



Record for Month ofS^p'XtYeai 


- inn 


. Mixture. S-eC Be^Uu/ 










s^;?5 


OR OATS 


OR CORN 


BRAH 


GLUTEN 


OIL MEAL 


COTTON 
SI^A°L 


MIXED 


HOMINY 


SILAGE 


HAY 


SSTil 




LBS MI/.K 


1 


PO* 




fto^ 




/.0# 












l^ 




ao. 


2 






















S.Q 




Z2.^ 


J 


a.^ 




a.o 




I.O 












5. if 




a4-.o 


4 






















.S'nV 




as-.4- 


S 


3.0 




a.o 




1.0 












<7,0 




at.5 


6 






















f>,0 




a7.3 


; 


3o 




2.0 




z^" 












f...T 




aq.6 


8 






















^..v 




3/0 


9 


30 




a.o 




/.fT 


.5-^ 










70 




3/.fi 


10 






















70 




3a.t 


11 


3.0 




2.0 




a.o 


1.0 










fto 




34.0 


IJ 






















R,f> 




3t.l 


13 


30 


s 


a.o 




a.o 


1.0 










ft A 




37.0 


14 






















fi,^ 




3^./r 


IS 


3.0 


to 


a.o 




a.o 


1.0 










^.0 




35-0 


16 


3.0 


lo 


2.0 


f.o 


a.o 


10 










/O.P 




'^4.( 


i; 






















/af? 




-Bi-.O 


18 


3.0 


(.0 


ay 


10 


a.o 


1.0 










/^..f 




'^It.f 


lO 






















/ar 




•372^ 


21) 


3.0 


ro 


3.0 


JO 


a.o 


/o 










f/.O 




?8.o 


2\ 






















U'O 




3^7 


:: 


3.0 


I.O 


3.0 


iS 


a 


1.0 










ILf 




^t-3 


23 






















ll.S 




fo..f 


24 


3.0 


(0 


3p 


$,0 


a.o 


1.0 










IP,.0 




4/,6 


2S 






















IP.,0 




4e.<; 


26 


^,0 


hS' 


?p 


a.o 


ao 


1.0 










IRS 




^H-.o 


27 






















I^S 




45-. ft 


28 


30 


a.o 


3o 


a.o 


a o 


10 










/3.0 




4^.0 


29 






















/3.0 




45:0 


JO 


3.0 


ax> 


3.0 


a.o 


a.o 


'•5' 










/^.T 




4^/ 


)l 




























Total 


ft7,^ 


ziy^ 


TS^ 


"a3.* 


sz^ 


2/.S^ 










^liS 




/ofg./ 


C<m 


Wm 


•37 




•4/_ 


-m- 


.43 




_ 




. 




rf . 


jij^.^ao 



Total Lbs Milk JQS&/J Average Test 4". P /ff Total Lbs B F ^-S.^- /ncom^jfi..f^t*»f«Wllr 
Cojr o/ Feed^.S".?.-© tCCil idrw^jpf^ei Profit Li 1^~CS>i\ of ^(l^hajf iVef Lojj . 

m»li K«M>rtf Sr>l«a For» S ^..-icr iic Fo Ot/ico Prepaid FRtO L KIMHAI.l CO Watt-rloo. Iowa 

enough in lactation to be sufficiently strong to stand it, her ration i.s 
increased on the 16th by adding I pound of gluten meal. Adding the 
nutrients found in this addition to those found in the ration of the IStli 
and again dividing by the Haecker factors, the results show the pres- 



228 



Feeding the Dairy Cow 



ence of enough protein for 42 pounds of milk, enough carbohydrates 
for 24.2 pounds and enough fat for 35 pounds. Provided the cow has 
yet a surplus of stored-up energy and fat and ability to produce more 
largely, such a ration should stimulate her favorably. Gradually 
afterward, as the corn and gluten meal are increased, the cow in- 
creases in milk flow until on the 28th of the month she milks 46 
pounds. On the 29th she decreases again to 45 pounds, and on the 30th 
an additional one-half pound of cottonseed meal is added to her ration. 

This may tend to bring her up again in milk, but she has now 
been on feed a month. Had she been a great dairy cow she would 
have increased in milk yield more rapidly, necessitating more rapid 
increase in ration during the last half of the month. 

She is working well, however, and because at no time during the 
month has the ration contained as much carbohydrates as her yield 
indicates it should have, the milk has been produced economically. 
Feed given during the resting period is being returned to the owner in 
the form of milk and the cow's condition shows she is rapidly 
returning to dairy form. All indications point to the fact that the cow 
has reached the limit of her ability to produce milk even though she 
has not reached the limit of her capacity to eat food. 

Further effort should be made the next month to increase her 
yield and it will be wise to analyze the ration again, for the feeder 
must now look to guarding the condition of the cow that she will not 
milk herself down in flesh to the point where she lacks strength suffi- 
cient to do her best work the remainder of the year. 

On the last day of the month her ration analyzes as follows : 



Protein 



Carbo- 
hydrates 



Fat 



Ground oats, 3 pounds 

Ground corn, 2 pounds 

Bran, 3 pounds 

Gluten meal, 2 pounds 

Linseed meal, 2 pounds 

Cottonseed meal, 1.5 pounds. 
Roughage 



.282 
.150 
.375 
.604 
.604 
.555 
1.090 



1.241 

1.356 

1.248 

.878 

.652 

.327 

8.430 



.123 
.070 
.092 
.088 
.134 
.129 
.390 



Total digestible nutrients. 
Maintenance requirements 



Nutrients left for making milk. 



3.660 
..700 



14.132 
7.000 



1.046 
.100 



2.960 



7.132 



.946 



When the nutrients left for milk-making, after the cow uses those 
needed for maintaining her 1,000-pound body, are divided by the fac- 
tors required for making a pound of milk, respectively, .054 pound of 
protein, .24 pound of carbohydrates, and .021 pound of fat, it becomes 
more evident the cow has reached the limit of her ability, or that she 
now needs a larger proportion of carbohydrates in her ration; for, 
although she is receiving enough digestible protein to make 54.8 
pounds of milk, she is receiving enough carbohydrates for only 30 
pounds and enough fat for 45 pounds. 



Feed and Care after Freshening 



229 



It is likely she is now eating more roughage than at the begin- 
ning of the month, but she may not be receiving enough. Therefore, 
it is plain that there are problems for the second month of her lacta- 
tion period. 

The Second Month 

Advisable as it is to feed a narrow ration — one containing a large 
amount of protein in proportion to carbohydrates and fat — the first 
month following freshening, it is not wise to continue this policy too 
long. The purpose during the first month is to stimulate large pro- 
duction with a small ration and at the expense of body fat. The 

MONTHLY FEED SHEET 



Name of Cow-Sft^oiZ ._. • HerdNo..X% 



Record for Month ofOcToherYearS'^J-'J— Mixture. .S.eje..BsSi\{iM / 



MY OP 
■ ONTH 



GR.OATS OR 



Ml 



2lQ. 



a^ 



Z^ 



2^ 



£^ 



£^ 



2.0 



a.o 



a. a 

AT? 



|f<-34^3.0fe 



s^ 



3.0 



LL 



±Q_ 



^:S. 



5JL 



5uK. 



LSL 



kl. 



ts- 



HW— 



a.5"- 



&.0 



&.0 



2^ 



2.JL 



^A 



^.o 



Z.O 



ao. 



a.o 



"^ 



m 



CLUTEM OIL MEAL 



a.o= 



2.0 



a.o 



2.0 



Z^ 



a.o 



J^ 



IS 



/■o 



4a.o' 



■Jk 



a.o' 



2.0 



a.o 



a.o 



i^ 



IQ. 



ie_ 



1.0 



1£L 



mi. 



11. 



IS 



ML 



12- 



A5L 



IS- 



JS. 



lo_ 



M. 



15 



365^ "37.5^ 



S 



HOMiNyl imt\ ^m' 



AQl 



.±0. 



4-0 



4:0_ 



^0. 



4^ 



±o_ 



4^ 



AiL 



A^ 



Afi- 



AO. 



Ao_ 



Ml 



A2. 



40 



/a4P- 



Hjd 



M 



-LQ_ 



ICL 



10 



W^^nal 






i2S. 



lis. 



lii 



lii 



A3S 



A^ 



Liil 



iii 



LLl 



iSJl 



liJ- 



Liil 



iSil 



L2l5. 



L^ 



ito 



41^ 



fT.O 



4:5LL 



4db^ 



450 



ii. 



4-4-,0 



±4^ 



44 6 



4 5^P 



AiLL 



AiJL 



4iU_ 



4-6.& 



4 ^0 



4-^3 



4fc.D 



4^& 



^ .TR 



44 o 



44 6 



4 5-.0 



44 < 



4i4i: 



4-^5- 



4-4 



443 



4 .3 .^ 

44.0 



4 3,8 
4 3.0 
fa.o 



387-^ 



Total Lbs. Milk.l381.1... Average Test.'h.%.-. Total Lbs. B. F.Sf.S.S, Incom3.^Z,2.0f^^''^^-IH- 
Costof Feed.4>.i^.\4r. Net Profit M-fPi>-f-^-^'-'Jmijii. Net Loss / 

■nd K«eeul Sriiaa Tt>tm ». Prl..'lS« P«t DoiTo I'r.p.lil. FRBD L. KIMBALL CO.. Waiarl**, Ion* 

liberal use of protein in a palatable form accomplishes this. At the 
end of the first month of lactation the purpose of the feeder changes. 
The cow has reached the climax of her production if all has gone well. 



230 Feeding the Dairy Cow 

and she is much poorer than when she freshened. The purpose from 
this point on through the lactation period is to retain as large a milk 
flow as possible and keep the cow in good form, health and vigor. 

To continue feeding a very narrow ration would cause the cow, 
if she is a good, well bred, hard-working dairy cow, to become too 
poor to work persistently, and in most sections the ration would be 
more expensive than necessary. Therefore, the October rations for 
the cow, Spot, will appear something like the monthly feed sheet on 
the preceding page. 

It will be noted that an attempt has been made to reduce the per- 
centage of protein and to increase the carbohydrates. However, the 
fact that an excess of protein has appeared in the ration up to this 
point does not indicate that the amount called for in addition to that 
called for by the balanced ration theory has been wasted. This would 
have been true had the excess been measured by carbohydrates and 
fat, but not so with protein, because, if more protein is fed than the 
cow has use for in maintaining her body and manufacturing the pro- 
tein portions of her milk, she uses it for the same purpose as she 
would carbohydrates. She has power to do this, but one should not 
permit this fact to lead to the belief that she also has power to use 
carbohydrates and fat in substitution for protein. She does not, 
neither does any other animal. Therefore, be it never forgotten that, 
regardless of how abundantly a cow may be fed other nutrients, if an 
undersupply of protein is given this becomes the limiting factor. The 
cow will draw upon her body for awhile but soon her milk flow will 
become reduced to an amount which contains approximately that 
amount of digestible protein afforded by the ration minus that re- 
quired for maintaining the animal body. 

If, however, protein, will serve the purposes of carbohydrates and 
fat, the reader may question why one needs to use care to feed a 
definite amount of these two nutrients so long as the ration is abun- 
dant and contains a liberal amount of protein. 

There are numerous reasons. 

Protein concentrates are not as palatable, as a rule, as those that 
are carbonaceous. An excess of protein may over-stimulate the cow ; 
cause her to over-produce until she weakens, when she declines in 
production rapidly. Overfeeding protein has ill effects on the repro- 
ductive organs. These objections alone suffice to show that over a 
long period of time cows produce less largely than though the proper 
amounts of each nutrient were fed. Moreover, in most section^ pro- 
tein feeds are the most expensive so that, though feed may not be 
wasted, there is a very evident waste of money occasioned by excessive 
cost of production. 

In changing the ration of Spot, therefore, an attempt is made to 



Feed and Care after Freshening 



231 



gradually add carbohydrates, cheapen the ration at the same time, 
and still maintain the productive principles of it. 

Bran, though comparatively cheap per ton, is usually an expen- 
sive food because of the large amount of indigestible material it con- 
tains, there being a total of only 60.9 pounds of digestible nutrients in 
100 pounds. 

Ground corn, also cheap per ton, contains 83.8 pounds of digest- 
ible nutrients per hundred weight. Therefore, gradually the bran is 
reduced to 2 pounds daily while the ground corn is increased to 3.5 
pounds. The same objections may be lodged against ground oats, 
100 pounds of which contain only 70 pounds of digestible nutrients, 
even though they are of high quality. For 1 pound of ground oats a 
pound of ground corn is added, which increases the digestible nutri- 
ents, especially the carbohydrates, in the ration, and decreases the 
cost of it. It is not wise to wholl}^ eliminate oats and bran from the 
mixture unless they are extremely high in price, for both are pala- 
table, bulky, and furnish mineral matter in desirable forms. Oftentimes, 
however, other foods, such as Schumacher, sell cheaper and can be 
substituted without detracting from the producing value of the ration. 

It will be noted that we assume the cow is eating more silage 
also. This she will naturally do as she overcomes the effects of parturi- 
tion, and in most parts of the country feeders begin depending more 
largely upon winter roughages and less upon pastures by October. 

By referring back to the early chapters of these articles one can 
analyze the ration and determine how closely it provides for the cow 
and the milk she is yielding by dividing the content of protein, car- 
bohydrates and fat contained in 100 pounds of each feed used by 100 
and multiplying by the number of pounds used in the ration. Thus 
we find 100 pounds of ground oats contain 9.4 pounds of protein, 51.4 
pounds of carbohydrates, 4.1 pounds of fat. Therefore, 1 pound of 
ground oats contains .094 pound of protein, .514 pound of carbohy- 
drates, .041 pound of fat, and 2 pounds of ground oats contain .188 
pound of protein, 1.028 pounds of carbohydrates, .082 pound of fat. 

By this simple process the digestible nutrients of all food com- 
prising the ration can be determined and the amount of each nutrient 
afforded arrived at in the following manner : 







Pounds 


digestible nutrients 
in ration 






Pounds 


Protein 


1 Carbohydrates 


Fat 


Corn silage 

Clover hay 

Ground oats 


40 
10 

2 

4 

2 

2 

2 

63.5 


.44 
.76 
.188 
.276 
.250 
.604 
.604 
.550 

3.672 


6.00 
i 3.93 
; 1.03 

2.76 

.83 

1 .88 

; . .65 

! .33 

16.41 


.28 
.18 
082 


Ground corn ' 


140 


Wheat bran 


.060 
088 




134 


Cottonseed meal . ... 


.129 
1.093 


Total 



232 



Feeding the Dairy Cow 



The discussion previously showed how the nutrients in the ration 
were used by Spot — an individual cow weighing 1,000 pounds, with 
ability to yield 45 or 46 pounds of 4 per cent milk — and leads the 
thoughtful reader to desire how to figure for himself and determine 
how nearly rations fit other cows of different weights and various de- 
grees of ability. To do this the feeder must realize, first of all, that 
nature protects the cow against thoughtless, heartless owners. It is 
provided that to live the cow keeps for maintaining her own body a 
certain fixed amount of nutriment before she begins working for her 
master. This is well, for the machine must be kept in working order 
if it is to work efficiently. 

It is quite definitely known that for this purpose .07 pound of pro- 
tein, .7 pound of carbohydrates, .01 pound of fat in digestible form 
are required for each 100 pounds the coav" weighs. Therefore, the 
800-pound cow requires .56 pound of protein, 5.60 pounds of carbohy- 
drates, .08 pound of fat, or a total of 6.24 pounds of digestible nutrients, 
while the 1,600-pound cow must have 1.12 pounds of protein, 11.2 
pounds of carbohydrates, .16 pound of fat, or a total of 12.48 pounds 
of digestible nutrients to be used solely for keeping the body in repair, 
healthful and prepared to work. This fact should show the feeder 
who skimps the feed of his cows the folly of his ways, for surely it 
proves that he is practicing economy so false that he robs his own 
purse. 

Spot's weight being 1,000 pounds, .7 pound protein, 7 pounds of 
carbohydrates, .1 pound of fat must be subtracted from the respective 
nutrients she received on October 7th, which leaves 2.97 pounds of 
protein, 9.41 pounds of carbohydrates and .993 pound of fat to be used 
for milk-making purposes. 

To illustrate how necessary this extra nutriment is for milk- 
making purposes the following table compiled by T. L. Haecker, which 
shows what milks containing various degrees of fat are made of, is 
valuable : 







Per cent 


Per cent 


Per cent 


sugar or 


fat 


protein 


carbohydrates 


3.0 


2.68 


4.60 


3.5 


2.81 


4.75 


4.0 


3.08 


4.85 


4.5 


3.27 


4.97 


5.0 


3.45 


4.98 


5.5 


3.65 


4.92 


6.0 


3.82 


4.91 


6.5 


4.12 


4.90 



Progressing with this information in mind and having access to 
many years of feed and milk records of the Minnesota University 
dairy herd, Professor Haecker has determined the amount of the 
various nutrients that are absolutely necessary for the production of 



Feed and Care after Freshening 



233 



1 pound of milk of various tests. 
from his findings : 



The following table is compiled 



Nutrients Required for One Pound of Milk 



Pounds digestible nutrients 
required 



One lb. of 


•Protein 


Carbo- 
hydrates 


Fat 


3 per cent milk 

3.3 per cent milk.., 

3.5 per cent milk 

i.7 per cent milk 

4 . per cent milk 

4 . 3 per cent milk 

4.5 per cent milk 


' .047 
.048 
.049 
.051 
.054 
.056 
.057 
.058 
.060 
.062 
.064 
.065 
.067 
.070 
.072 


.20 
.21 
.22 
.23 
.24 
.25 
.26 
.27 
.28 
.29 
.30 
.31 
.32 
.33 
.34 


.017 
.018 
.019 
.020 
.021 
.022 
.023 
.023 




.024 


5.3 per cent milk 

5.5 per cent milk 

5.7 per cent milk 

6.0 per ecnt milk 

6 3 per cent milk 


.025 
.026 
.027 
.028 
.029 


6 . 5 per cent milk 


.029 







Knowing the amounts of the three nutrients available for milk- 
making, knowing the test of a given cow, and knowing the amount 
of each nutrient necessary for making one pound of milk, the task of 
checking up the accuracy of a ration is an easy one. 

The table shows that to produce a pound of 4 per cent milk re- 
quires .054 pound of protein, .24 pound of carbohydrates and ,021 
pound of fat. It is merely a problem of division, as follows: 2.97 
pounds of protein divided by .054 equals 55 : 9.41 pounds carbohy- 
drates divided by .24 equals 40 ; .993 pound fat divided by .021 equals 
47. 

This makes it apparent that there is yet too much protein — 
enough for 55 pounds of milk — only enough carbohydrates for 40 
pounds and enough fat for 47 pounds. The cow being on corn sil- 
age, which, like linseed meal, is laxative, the latter, a high protein 
feed, should have corn substituted for half of it, and because a further 
addition of carbohydrates should replace protein the gluten meal and 
cottonseed meal are reduced to 1 pound each. 

It may be expected, as indicated on the monthly feed sheet, as the 
ration thus approaches accuracy in supplying the demands of the 
cow, she increases in milk flow, and, although in September, when 
she gave 46 pounds of milk, it was believed she had reached her cli- 
miax, she has been further encouraged with the result that she has 
reached 46.3 pounds when under careless feeding methods she would 
haye declined in milk flow. 

By again checking up the ration in the manner outlined, it 
will be found that a ration sufficiently perfect for all practical pur- 
poses of maintaining the cow and producing 46 pounds of milk is now 
in use. The cow is producing well. It will be advisable to continue 



234 . FEEDfNG THE DaIRY CoW 

with this ration till she begins tiring of it, watching her milk produc- 
tion to detect the first signs of this. 

It is to be expected that as the cow advances in lactation she will 
decrease in milk flow, but the careful feeder will guard against too 
rapid a decrease, for he knows that it is very difficult, if not impos- 
sible, to bring a cow back to her former flow after she has fallen to 
any great extent. As may be expected. Spot begins giving less milk 
the last of the month. We will try adding to her ration one-half pound 
of cottonseed meal and note the manner in which she starts working in 
November. 

The Third Month 

An evident decrease in milk flow, even though slight, leads the 
feeder to change the ration. The natural tendency is to give addi- 
tional food, but this does not always enlarge production. Every cow 
has two limits, the ability to give a certain amount of milk of definite 
richness, and the capacity for eating and digesting a certain amount 
of food. To feed successfully, to command a large and economical 
production, to guard the future usefulness of the cow, the feeder must 
recognize this fact and have knowledge of the limits of ability and 
capacity of each cow he feeds. In no other way can he know that he 
is furnishing the proper ration either in amount or quality. 

In this regard there are three distinct classes of cows : (a) the 
class whose ability to yield milk and capacity to eat and digest food are 
equal, or nearly so ; (b) the class with capacity to handle large amounts 
of food but lacking in 'ability to yield milk ; and (c) the class with 
ability to produce much milk but so lacking in capacity that their 
extra ability is useless because they are unable to handle enough 
food to tax it. 

These three classes of cows may be illustrated as follows : 

Ability 



Class A 



Capacity 



Class B 



Ability 
Capacity 



Class C 



( Ability 



I Capacity 



The cow highly developed in both capacity and ability seldom 
gives trouble to the careful feeder. She eats well at all times and re- 
sponds with certainty to good care and abundant, well balanced ra- 
tions. Unfortunately, these cows are not in the majority and are 
represented by the great record cows of the various breeds. 



Feed and Care after Freshening 235 

As a rule, the cow's capacity to eat food is greater than her 
ability to give milk. This is invariably true of scrub, grade and 
lowly bred cows. It has been assumed to be the case with Spot. 
With such cows the feed and milk sheet are a safe guide because, by 
manipulating the ration in the manner demonstrated, the limit of the 
cow's ability is determined long before she is eating as much food as 
her capacity will permit. In other words, she could eat more food 
without sickening or impairing her future usefulness. In the past, 
the objection to feeding more heavily than the cow's ability would 
warrant has been less than it is today, when feeds of all kinds and 
dairy products are so high in price. However, it is w^ell known that 
all feed given, over and above that which is necessary to stimulate 
the cow's greatest ability, is wasted and worse than wasted because 
it taxes the digestive apparatus and in return yields nothing. It is 
equally true that, if overfed, the cow will yield less than her maximum, 
because some of the energy she might use in making milk she must 
use in digesting unnecessary food. Thus, even as there is a loss oc- 
casioned by underfeeding, a double loss results from overfeeding and 
from using rations improperly balanced. It causes a waste of food 
and a sacrifice of milk. 

There is quite a large class of cows whose ability to produce milk 
surpasses their capacity to eat and digest food. These are cows re- 
sulting from breeding butter records to butter records without regard 
to constitution and capacity, two very important characteristics of 
type. So greatly is the milking function developed in these cows that 
they continue to increase in milk yield with every increase made in 
the ration. In this manner they encourage the feeder, who following 
the dictates of the scales and test alone, failing to observe closely 
enough the physical condition of the cow, continues to raise the ra- 
tion. Then the inevitable happens. Too much feed is given. The 
cow sickens, refuses to eat, declines rapidly in milk flow, becomes 
gaunt, and much skill is necessary to revive a normal condition. 
Never again is she as good a cow as she was before she "went off 
feed." Ever afterward she will be more difficult to feed. She will 
be more susceptible to overfeeding because her digestive system, in- 
herently under-developed, has been further weakened as a result of 
overfeeding. Such cows are often encountered by the feeder who 
tries for large records, and it is not uncommon to find them in any 
herd where the attempt is made to secure large and profitable pro- 
duction. 

The careful feeder is always on the lookout for such cows. When 
one is found in the herd, additional judgment on his part is called into 
service. In addition to studying the milk and feed sheet he watches 
the cow — both ends and the middle of her. When the eye begins to 



236 



Feeding the Dairy Cow 



get dull, when the hide begins to get hard, the hair harsh and standing 
on end, and when the solid excrement shows the digestive apparatus 
is not working efficiently, the ration should be decreased. 

MONTHLY FEED SHEET 

JVame of Cow.S^nX. — - Herd No. A'^ 

■■i-Biim..MaLtcJb..lt^l^01 Freshened. Mil^V-iT..£Aj-l%% - 



Record for Month ofSi)^(^\]\}iKYeat 


-J417.- Mixture..Se.£^B.G. 


LoMl 


















S*oT.?5 


GR. OATS 


GR.CORN 


BRAN 


GLUTEN 


OIL MEAL 


COTTON 
MEAL 


MIXED 


HOMINY 


Corn 

SILAGE 


%'a^^ 






LBS. MILK 


I 


P^ 


6.5-*= 


2.C)* 


f.o* 


,.0^ 


/.5* 






4-of 


/o^ 


\^ 




4-2.S 


2 


















AO 


lb 






A- 2,0 


3 


? 


7-0 


a.o 


i.a 


1-0 


l',T 






A-O- 


ID 


l^S 




41.0 


4 


















A-O. 


ID 






4-1..^ 


5 


a 


7.5- 


a.o 


1.0 


1.0 


IS 






+ 0- 


In 


\')0 




4-1.2. 


6 


















40 


ID 






4-0.fi 


; ■ 


a 


f.o 


a.o 


10 


1.0 


|.f 






4-0. 


ID 


/4nf 




3^.1 


8 


















4-0, 


10 






3^.,T 


9 


a 


LS 


a.o 


1.0 


1.0 


l,T 






4-0. 


10 


/f r) 




'^q.O 


10 


















4-0. 


It) 






3^.a 


11 


a 


(>.0 


a.o 


uo 


to 


t.,^ 






40. 




l^S 




4o.o 


12 


















4-a 


ID 






31 (, 


13 


? 


4.0 


a.o 


1.0 


l.O 


l-f 






4-0. 


ID 


13-Q 




^^R 


14 


























315- 


IS 


























<».5.2L 


16 


























3^.0 


17 


























3fl.l 


18 


























3ft.O 


19 


























3B.5- 


20 








- 


















3^,0 


21 


























3^.7 


22 


























36-4- 


. 23 


























38.fe 


24 


























3fi.a 


25 


























3R.0 


26 


























3fi.| 


27 


























30.0 


28 


























3?^.=^ 


29 


























3s.a 


30 


























, 35-0 


31 




























■ Total 


hv^ 


/B?* 


~1g^ 


'W^ 


3D^ 


3fr* 






12,00.'^ 


100'^ 


4-05^^ 




1176.^^ 


Cost 


pIT 


H^i 


i^-p 


^.54- 


^^7. 


f,.i . 






♦ 3.00 


la.^s 


MB 


==^= 






Total Lbs. Milk/AilB.-^.. 
Cost of Feed.^.lLS^.... 



.. Average TestArJi. 
Net Profit. 



Total Lbs. B. F..47-13* Incom^J&SSt.i.ii'P>milk 
l3B>±Skjmmik. Net Loss 



Berd Rcoor'd ST*t« 



ep.id. FRED L. KIMBALL CO. 



These indications show the cow is eating more feed than she can 
handle safely. She has closely approached the limit of her capacity, 
although, by continuously increasing in yield with every increase of 
feed, she shows that the limit of her ability has not been reached. The 
limit of her capacity prohibits her from ever reaching the limit of her 
ability. 

Her ration must be gradually decreased while time will permit. 
If this is postponed until the cow begins leaving her feed, a serious 



Feed and Care after Freshening 237 

condition will result. Even if the life of the cow is saved, her future 
usefulness will have been impaired. But if the ration is decreased, the 
cow given a physic — a pound of epsom salts or, better, a quart of lin- 
seed oil — when the first signs of overfeeding appear, she will quickly 
return to normal and her feeder will know he has discovered the 
amount of feed the cow is capable of handling. In the future, he will 
keep his rations below this maximum amount. Thus it is that no 
fixed rules can be established for feeding all cows. Judgment on the 
part of the feeder must always be recognized as the all-important 
factor and when this is applied freely in conjunction with a knowledge 
of feeds, cows, balanced rations, feed and milk records, each individual 
cow in the herd can be induced to give her maximum yield with a 
minimum of feed. 

As is the case with most cows, it is assumed that Spot has capacity 
for more than 13.5 pounds of grain daily. When at the end of her 
second month of lactation she had decreased from her maximum daily 
yield of 46.3 pounds to 43 pounds an attempt was made to check a 
further decrease by gradually increasing the ration. On the 31st of 
October, one-half pound of cottonseed meal was added; on the 3d of 
November, one-half pound of corn, and a like increase was made on 
November 5th, but to no avail, as the milk record shows. Therefore, 
this extra feed would be wasted if left in the ration, so it is again 
taken away and the daily amount of feed further reduced to 13 pounds 
by the 13th of the month. This represents approximately 1 pound of 
feed for each 3 pounds of milk yielded. The ration is well balanced, 
furnishing all necessary nutrients for maintaining the cow's body and 
keeping her in good working condition, and she is producing as favor- 
ably as is to be expected. It is evident that the proper ration for the 
present has been established. So long as the cow keeps in good form 
and continues to yield favorably there is no occasion for changing her 
ration. It is no more advisable to make unnecessary changes in 
rations than to fail to make necessary changes. 

The Succeeding Months 

As the months go by a natural decrease in milk flow will follow, 
but the cow should increase in richness of test, so there is not a radi- 
cal decrease in butterfat production. Cows differ greatly in this re- 
spect, but where the feed and milk sheets, together with the individ- 
uality of the cow, are studied carefully and used as guides, it is often- 
times possible to so encourage persistency that the cow will be yield- 
ing more than half as much milk and nearly as much butterfat at the 
end of her lactation period as she did when at the climax of her pro- 
duction. 

A readjustment of the ration will usually be found necessary once 



238 Feeding the Dairy Cow 

a month— sometimes oftener — during the remainder of the lactation 
period along the same lines exemplified by the record sheets of Octo- 
ber and November. For the most part the revision will be downward 
but occasionally the feeder will wish to increase slightly the ration 
that he may be sure enough feed is being provided to stimulate the 
cow's best work at all times. As a guide for showing him that the 
ration is well balanced and the cow working efficiently — not wasting 
food — the rule that 1 pound of food should produce 4 pounds of 3 
per cent milk or 3 pounds of 5 per cent milk will be found very help- 
ful. 

It must not be assumed, however, that a certain ration will serve 
equally well for all cows. Although it has been taken for granted 
that foods combined in definite proportions impelled Spot to do her 
best work, another cow under identical conditions might refuse to do 
her best, and herein rests the advisability of weighing and recording 
the feed eaten and the milk yielded. The feeder studying each cow, 
realizing that large records are not made by the dozen but by in- 
dividual cows, is enabled to vary the rations according to the demands 
and welfare of each cow in the herd, thereby securing the greatest 
and cheapest production possible. 

The particular feeds used in the tables are not the only feeds that 
can be successfully used. They were selected because in nearly all 
sections they are available, and all' feeders are familiar with them. It 
often becomes advisable for the sake of economy to use other foods, 
and the dairyman should always remember that the selection of food- 
stuffs has much to do with the profits accruing from his cows. For 
instance, hominy feed can be used instead of corn, Schumacher feed 
can be substituted for oats, ground oats and cut or ground alfalfa 
can be substituted for bran, and vice versa, cowpea or soy bean meal 
can be substituted for gluten meal, cottonseed meal or oil meal. In 
fact, the dairyman who has knowledge of the various cattle foods, 
with regard to relative composition, digestibility, palatability, and 
physical properties, is in a position to choose the foods that are to 
compose his rations in such a manner that he will not only be able to 
stimulate the largest but also the cheapest production. 

Furthermore, it is often possible and advisable to use a ready 
mixed dairy ration, the guaranteed feeding value of which is known 
to be such that it supplies all requirements other than those furnished 
by home-grown foods that need to be reinforced. Such use of reliable 
ready mixed rations make it possible for the feeder to purchase one 
feed in carload lots rather than several others in job lots. This en- 
ables him to enjoy carload freight rates and wholesale prices, plus a 
small commission for the middleman. If discriminating selections 
are made, using knowledge which determines the merits or demerits 



Feed and Care after Freshening 239 

of foodstuffs, it is possible to secure mixed feeds that are always uni- 
form in feeding* value and more efficiency mixed than feeds can be 
mixed on the farm. As is the case in selecting all foods, farm-grown, 
by-products or mixed feeds, the essential points of producing value 
and economy must be considered by the feeder. Let it never be for- 
gotten that even selling home-grown feeds — such as timothy hay — and 
investing- the proceeds in foods more useful for feeding purposes is 
advisable, and only by having a clear knowledge of feeds and their 
characteristics (including composition, digestibility, palatability, 
physical properties and cost) can this be wisely accomplished. 

With this explanation the reader will find it possible to arrange 
rations suitable in quantity and quality to encourage large, persistent 
and profitable production for the remaining months of the cow's 
lactation period. By thus succeeding with one cow, he will ever 
afterward be able to feed successfully as many cows as he may have 
charge of^ for by recognizing that each cow is an individual unto her- 
self, capable of dictating her needs through the mediums of the milk 
and feed sheet and her physical condition from day to day, the feeder 
will realize that no one is in such good position to determine how each 
cow in the herd should be fed as he is. 

As the fall-freshened cow advances in lactation, fall gives way 
to winter, and naturally, the cow tires of rations that are always the 
same. She becomes dainty and refuses to eat with avidity. It is then 
advisable to make slight changes which will provide variety without 
lessening the feeding value of the ration. Roots may be substituted 
in part for silage, alfalfa hay for clover, hominy feed for ground corn, 
etc. 

Large, yielding cows that require heavy rations not only need va- 
riety ; they need an occasional rest of digestive system. Because at par- 
turition time they were taught to eat mashes v/ith relish, it is possible 
and advisable once a month or oftener to substitute, for one feed, a 
mash consisting of 1 pound each of bran, oil meal and ground oats, well 
salted and moistened. No decrease in milk flow will follow, and at 
the next feeding hour a renewed appetite wall be in evidence. This 
plan will often forestall heavily fed cows sickening of food and failing 
to work well to the end of the lactation period. 

Under usual conditions it is desirable for cows to freshen every 
year. This necessitates breeding them when they are advanced three 
months in lactation. It is the nature of some cows to decrease per- 
ceptibly when conception takes place, w^hile others continue to milk 
as largely as they otherwise would. Therefore, the ration should be 
readjusted, if necessary, to comply with this characteristic of the cow 
in the same manner as in coping with other individual peculiarities. 

When spring comes with warm days, it will be advisable to re- 



240 Feeding the Dairy Cow 

duce the ration slightly and gradually, for less food is required in 
warm weather than when it is cold, less being needed for generating 
heat to maintain body temperature. 

By ob.serving the feed and milk sheet the proper degree of reduc- 
tion will be readily discovered, it being presumed that the carbonaceous 
feeds which are the heat producers are the ones to be decreased. 

Even as feeders often make the mistake of leaving their cows, on 
pasture too late in the fall, thereby losing greatly in milk production, 
greater mistakes are made by sending cows to pasture too early in the 
spring. 

Early spring grasses are largely water. They contain very little 
feeding nutriment. It is true that when cows are first turned into 
pasture, even though it may be in the early season, they increase in 
milk flow. This does not indicate, however, that they are securing a 
great abundance of food nutrients. It more likely indicates that the 
grass is serving as a tonic and a stimulant to encourage cows to trans- 
fer from their bodies the nutrients that have been stored up during the 
winter. 

An excellent rule to follow is to keep the cows in the barnyard 
and upon winter feed 10 days to two weeks after the decision has been 
made to send them to pasture. Wise men often change their minds. 
After the decision to turn the cows into the pasture field is made, it 
will be the part of wisdom to change the mind and postpone the 
transfer for at least 10 days. 

After cows get a taste of green grass, they do not eat their silage 
and other winter feeds with the same avidity they did before leaving 
the barnyard. Consequently, if they do produce more largely, it is at 
the expense of their bodies, and the loss in production will come two- 
fold in later months. 

Furthermore, if cows are turned into pasture too early, the grass 
is not given an. opportunity to get a good start so it will grow well 
throughout the season. It is kept close to the ground and, when 
finally summer droughts arrive, pastures resemble board floors by the 
absence of feed produced. Grass should be 6 inches high before cows 
are turned onto it. Then a sufficient start will have been gained so 
that throughout the season, unless over-pastured, an abundance of 
feed will be furnished. 

When grass attains a height of 6 inches, sufficient nutriment is 
stored so that the cow is enabled during her grazing hours to secure 
a volume of feed large enough that, instead of acting as a stimulant, 
it furnishes nutrients out of which the cow can make milk in abun- 
dance with ease. 

Changing cows from winter ration to grass is a radical change. 
It will, therefore, be advisable to gradually accustom the cows to 



Feed and Care after Freshening 241 

pasturage. In doing so, the animal body is protected against abnor- 
mal stimulation and will retain throughout the season much of the 
stamina and energy stored up from expensive winter rations. 

Let the cows go to pasture two hours the first day, three hours 
the second day, four hours the third day, and thus change gradually 
from winter quarters to spring environment. In the same manner, 
the winter ration should be decreased slowly and regularly, that the 
increase in milk flow which follows will be permanent rather than of 
a temporary character. 

" It is a saving rather than a waste or extravagance to continue 
feeding dry feeds, especially hay, until after the cow has become w-ell 
accustomed to the green grass and refuses to eat with avidity the 
focKl she lived on during the winter. 

Grain should not be taken entirely away from cows that are 
producing largely. A certain amount of food nutrients are absolutely 
necessary for the manufacture of milk and butterfat. 

Knowing that pasture grass contains 80 per cent or more of 
water, it is not reasonable for the feeder to believe it possible for the 
cow to consume a large enough amount of green stuff to furnish 
nutrients for an exceptionally large flow of milk. It is true she will 
continue to yield largely on grass alone for a period of time, or so long 
as the green, succufent, palatable, easily digested grass stimulates her 
to do so at the expense of her body, but when finally she has robbed 
her framework of the residual effects of winter feeding she will decline 
rapidly in her milk flow, never to return again until another freshening 
period. 

Cows that have been properly fed during the winter go to pasture 
in excellent condition. The securing of this condition has been an 
expensive process extended over a period of six months or longer. 
Therefore,, it is a short-sighted policy, indeed, for the feeder to ignore 
the importance of conserving it as he does when he permits green, 
watery pasture grasses, by their stimulating character, to transfer 
this substantial condition to the milk pail in a temporarily enlarged 
flow. 

- To cows giving 20 pounds of 5 per cent milk or 30 pounds of 3 
per cent milk, it will pay well to continue feeding some grain to fur- 
nish nutrients, and a little hay to furnish dry matter. Dairymen are 
rapidly coming to the point where they realize that it pays to k-eep 
cows eating a little silage throughout the entire summer, so that ^yhen 
the customary drought arrives this succulent food may be increased 
to guard against the natural decrease of milk flow which is experieficed 
on every dairy farm during a part of the summer time Avhen the 
weather is hot, flies pesky and pastures short. 



242 Feeding the Dairy Cow 

How true it is that the majority of dairymen are good feeders in 
the winter time but very poor feeders in the summer time. During 
the winter, they themselves must shoulder the responsibility of feed- 
ing their cows; but in the summer time they trust wholly to nature, 
and nature refuses to assume the entire responsibility, for a part of it 
belongs to the dairymen who profit from the milk the cows produce. 

Grain in Summer 
Under practical conditions as they exist on dairy farms a very 
light grain ration will be found necessary during the flush season of 
grass for the fall-freshened cow that is due to freshen again the com- 
ing fall. As she advances in gestation her milk flow naturally de- 
creases when summer comes, and if she is due to freshen the latter 
part of August she should be turned dry in July. Preparation for 
another year's work, as previously outlined, should then be started. 
Even as success has resulted from the systematic plan of feeding the 
individual cow for one year, so will success come year after year, 
provided the herd is made up of good cows. Furthermore, the feeder 
who has followed the plan described — even though he has practiced it 
on only one good cow — has learned much of practical value regard- 
ing feeding. Success has made him confident that he knows how to 
feed in the future to secure a large, profitable production from any 
cow possessed of ability. 

Winter and Spring Freshened Cows 

Cows that freshen in late wdnter or early spring must be fed all 
summer in quite the same manner as has been outlined for winter feed- 
ing, except that grass will take the place of silage and hay until the 
period of drought comes. Then it w^ill be necessary to again resort 
to the use of hay and silage or soiling crops. The question of kind 
and quantity of grain necessary during the several summer months 
can and should be determined in identically the same manner as the 
most suitable ration was determined for winter feeding. Experiments 
show that cows will produce just about enough more milk when fed 
grain on pasture to pay for the grain. These experiments also show 
that cows keep in better condition, and because of added strength 
and vigor derived from the grains they will produce more persistently. 
Also, the good effects of the grain will carry over into the next lacta- 
tion period, causing a greater production than though no grain had 
been given the cows during the previous pasture season. Therefore, 
grain fed to cows on pasture is paid for directly by increased produc- 
tion and earns a handsome profit as a result of the residual eflPects 
which are noted later. 

This is especially true of the w^inter or spring-freshened cow that 
yields heavily when on pasture. There is a very good reason for this. 



Feed and Care after Freshening 243 

Green grass contains so little dry matter that the cow is unable to eat 
a large enough quantity for maintenance and for supplying nutrients 
for a large volume of milk. If she is fed no grain or other dry matter, 
she is compelled to draw upon her body reserve — and this the stimu- 
lating character of grass impels her to do. Consequently, although 
she milks heavily when on pasture, she unfits herself for large work 
at the end of her year and it is difficult to rebuild the body reserve 
to a point where she will yield well the next lactation period. 

This is but additional evidence pointing to the fact that, where 
conditions will permit, cows should be freshened in the fall. A sav- 
ing of dry feed is made during the summer months and, at the season 
when all farmers are busy in the fields, cows can be idle, resting and 
requiring less care and attention. Winter and spring-freshened cows 
must be given a rest between lactation periods, the same as cows that 
freshen in the fall. This resting period comes at a season of the year 
when dairy products are high and when there is plenty of time avail- 
able for milking large-producing cows. In this way such cows not 
only demand more labor and expense during busy months, but they 
make a sacrifice of high-priced products during other months. 



CHAPTER XXXVI. 

FEEDING TEST COWS 

. Thus far the discussion of feeding has centered around the cow 
kept solely for profitable milk production. Breeders of purebred 
dairy cattle, although realizing that fundamentally cows are bred for 
profitable milk and butterfat production, desire to give individual cows 
large records that will demonstrate the greatness of capacity and 
ability. Records enhance the value of the cow herself, the family to 
which she belongs, and especially her offspring. In order to demon- 
strate these capabilities the breeder is willing to sacrifice, to some 
extent, economy for largeness of yield. The method of feeding, how- 
ever, does not differ from that which has been recommended in previ- 
ous chapters, except that purebred cows of especial excellence are 
more capacious and have greater abilities than the assumed cow, 
Spot. 

Such cows are so highly bred that they will yield more largely 
and, therefore, necessitate being fed more heavily. By the use of the 
feed and milk sheet, how^ever, and by studying the daily conditions of 
the individual cow, the feeder conducts his operations in identically 
the same manner. He is justified in disrespecting to some degree the 
rule that a pound of feed should produce four pounds of 3 per cent milk 
or three pounds of 5 per cent milk, and usually the strife for largeness 
of records leads him to continue adding feed to the ration just as long 
as there is an increase in butterfat yield — no matter how small — so 
long as the present or future usefulness of the cow is not impaired. 

The feeder is also inclined to postpone breeding the cow so that 
she may work the entire 365 days and yet have time to rest six or 
eight weeks before her next lactation period begins. Therefore, 
w^hether the ambition of the feeder is to secure reasonably large pro- 
duction and the greatest possible profit from milk and butterfat 
yielded or to secure the very largest production of milk and butterfat., 
regardless of profit, the process of feeding is the same, the only differ- 
ence being in the amount of feeds given, and perhaps in that a larger 
variety of feeds is offered to stimulate the appetitie of the animal. 

It will be found in later chapters that more difference is found in 
the nursing, care and management of test cows as compared with 
average dairy cows than is to be found in the methods of feeding. 



CHAPTER XXXVII. 

CARE AND MANAGEMENT OF TEST COWS 

Satisfactory results from feeding dairy cows hinge so largely upon 
care and management that no discussion of feeding suffices which fails 
to consider this fact. Even as expert nursing is as essential a factor 
in curing the sick as is medicine, so is expert caretaking as essential a 
factor in working the cow as is feed. If a sick man be harshly treated, 
kicked and cuffed about, compelled to lie on a cold, damp surface, sub- 
jected to uncomfortable conditions occasioned by cold drafts, flies and 
lice, excessive heat or cold, or if he be confined in a dark, close rooni 
with no ventilation and compelled to breathe foul air, no amount of 
medicine, no matter how efficiently it is prepared or how great its vir- 
tues, will do him much good. A cow kept under like conditions will 
fail to do much good, no matter how well her feed may be prepared or 
how efficiently her rations may be balanced. 

An abundance of good feed, good care and good management 
should go hand in hand. One without the others counts for nothing 
more than failure. Even as it is necessary to properly feed the cow 
every day in the year, so is it necessary to give her proper care each 
day. 

Especially during the period of preparation for freshening, good 
management should be provided. Fresh air, sunshine, exercise and 
warmth to the extent of comfort — and no more — ^are essential. 

A cow kept tied in an uncomfortable stall and surrounded by 
darkness and foul air will deliver a weak, puny calf, predisposed to all 
diseases that make it so difficult to raise calves: Even though it may 
live, the calf has been robbed of its better inherent qualities and never 
develops into the good animal it would if it had been given proper 
embryonic care as well as food. 

On the other hand, a danger equally as hazardous argues against 
letting the cow run with the general herd during this period. Open 
cows and heifers come in heat at regular intervals, and the observant 
livestock man notes that this excites most the cows heavy in calf. 
No performance more than that of riding other cow^s has greater 
tendency to cause abortions. It may cause cows that are not in- 
fected -with contagious abortion germs to lose their calves ; it is al- 
most sure to cause cows that are so affected to lose theirs. Calling 
to mind the fact that approximately 90 per cent of all cows harbor 
contagious abortion germs and that nearly all herds contain such 
cows, the only sensible plan is that of so managing all springers that 



246 Feeding the Dairy Cow 

they may be reinforced against these germs that occasion greater loss 
in the dairy world than all others combined. Therefore, a rule which 
prohibits open cows running with cows well along in gestation is a 
part of good management. 

If the cow is to freshen in pasture season she secures exercise, 
fresh air and sunshine as she grazes, and the sun has removed the 
chill from the water she drinks and from the air she breathes. Not 
so with the cow that freshens in winter. She should be given a well 
bedded, dry, comfortable, well lighted and well ventilated stall — a box 
stall is preferable — and it will be well if she is permitted to exercise 
daily in a lot sheltered from cold winds and have water to drink which 
comes direct from the well or spring, or which has been warmed. Such 
management, supplementing the suggestions for feeding which have 
preceded, will insure a healthy condition, of the cow and her offspring. 

Owners of valuable cows make it a part of the system of manage- 
ment to be present when birth is given to calves so that if there is 
trouble, as there often is, aid can be furnished. If cows are good 
enough to own and keep, if it is desirable to prevent accidents, if the 
life of the calf and the cow is worth saving, then this plan is advisable 
in all herds where good management is purposed. 

If the cow cleans promptly — as she likely will as a result of good 
care and feed — much trouble Avill have been prevented. If she does 
not, the vaginal tract should be thoroughly cleansed twice daily by 
injecting a mild solution of warm water and a non-irritating disin- 
fectant. This treatment will serve, as a rule, to free the cow from 
the afterbirth within 48 hours, but if not it should be mechanically 
removed by a veterinarian unless the one in charge has had experience 
that fits him to do this work with safety. All cows should be flushed 
out with the warm disinfectant solution daily for a week following 
freshening and then twice a week until they are rebred. This aids 
greatly in keeping cows breeding regularly and free from contagious 
abortion. 

Throughout the year that management which provides greatest 
comfort for the cow at all times, and insures for her surroundings that 
keep her in the best of health, vigor and condition, must be supplied 
if best results are to be secured from feeding. It is possible to over- 
feed but never possible to overcare for cows, unless it be that by con- 
tinuously working around them their rest is broken. This indicates 
that milking, feeding and caring for cows should be done regularly, 
quietly, carefully, promptly and efficiently. Between milking and 
feeding periods the cow should be left to herself as much as possible 
that she may eat, drink, rest and make milk. 



Care and Management 6f Test Cows 247 

Frequency of Milking 

Under average dairy conditions cows should be milked twice 
daily, the time intervening between milkings being as nearly equal as 
possible. If the length of time between the night and the morning 
milkings is greater than between the morning and the night milkings, 
it may be expected that a larger flow of milk, testing lower, will be 
secured in the morning and the total production will be somewhat 
less. It is, therefore, advisable to make the time between the milking 
periods as nearly equal as possible, and it goes without saying that 
cows should be milked regularly, and each cow should be milked by 
the same milker. Cows object to unnecessary changing. 

In herds of good cows it very often occurs that extra large milkers 
are discovered. Any cow giving 40 pounds of milk daily, or more, 
should be milked three times. By so doing, udder troubles will be 
prevented, milk and butterfat production increased, cost of produc- 
tion decreased, the persistency of the cow encouraged and, because 
the last milk tests more richly than the first, a slightly increased per- 
centage test of the total milk flow will be secured. The question of 
how often a cow should be milked depends upon the quantity of milk 
she is capable of yielding. Under no circumstances should her pro- 
ductive ability be handicapped by not being milked often enough, 
and never should she be milked so often that the profit from her pro- 
duction is erased by extra trouble and expense of milking. Many a 
good cow has been ruined because her owner failed to milk her three 
times a day instead of twice, and many good cows would develop into 
phenomenal cows were they milked three times daily in addition to 
being fed and cared for properly. 

Watering 

The cow is a beast of habit. If the plan of watering to which 
she has become accustomed is that of giving her water only once 
daily, she will refuse to drink oftcner even if the opportunity is af- 
forded. A cow will live fairly well if allowed to drink only once 
daily, for she has large storage capacity, but she will not do her best 
unless watered oftener. The cow that has her own way about it 
develops the habit of drinking often. It is this fact that indicates 
the value of indoor watering devices for individual cows. Their use 
is to be recommended to the ojie who will keep them clean, sanitary 
and pure, not only because cows do best when they can drink often 
but because individual drinking bowls prevent the spread of infectious 
diseases which so often occur when cows all drink from the same 
receptacle. 

All water should either be warmed in winter or given fresh from 
the well or spring. Cows should never be compelled to drink ice 



248 Feeding the Dairy Cow 

water. The cow's normal temperature is approximately 100 degrees. 
If she drinks cold water, she must heat it in her body by the use of 
high-priced feed. She will do this if compelled to, but it is much 
cheaper to heat water with coal, cobs and kindling than with corn, 
oats and bran. Moreover, to milk largely a cow must drink large 
volumes of water. Cows will drink heartily of warmed w^ater and 
remain comfortable. They will drink much less of ice water and 
suffer. 

Salting 

Salt is an essential to the health of cows and therefore to persistent 
milk production. A portion of that which is required may be fed 
in the grain ration to add to the palatability thereof, but care should 
be taken not to overfeed it, because too free a use of salt reduces pro- 
duction almost as greatly as does too limited an amount. A good rule 
to follow is to place in the feed one-half ounce of salt daily per cow 
and then give free access to a supply of salt that the cow may satisfy 
her own appetite. In this way, an abundance is assured and over- 
feeding is guarded against. 

Preparation of Feed 

All grain fed to cows should be finely ground. If it is not, a large 
waste of feed results. Furthermore, the cow is a hard-worked animal 
and needs her time for making milk rather than for grinding feed. 
Care should be taken to use only foods of good quality, for moldy 
feeds are dangerous to the health of all animals. If one chooses feed 
wisely, making certain of palatability, food value and economy, it is 
always more advisable to feed a variety of foods rather than any one 
or tw'o. As a rule, cooking or moistening foods simply incurs extra 
labor. The digestibility of them is not increased. It may be less- 
ened, for when feeds are fed dry the saliva is more thoroughly mixed 
with them and digestion is thus aided. It is customary, however, for 
those feeding cows for large records to .moisten and sometimes to 
cook or steam foods, the belief being that greater production is there- 
by attained. The reason, however, is that moist or steamed foods are 
more palatable and are eaten more readily and more largely. It is 
more advisable to moisten the foods with hot water than to cook them 
because excessive heat renders protein undigestible, tlius detracting 
from the feeding value. 

Frequency o£ Feeding 

The cow, being the possessor of four, stomachs, does not need to 
b'e fed as often as do non-ruminating animals' If, however^ cows .are 
milked twice daily, it is convenient to feed th«m twicey.t«nd'i| ^milked 
three times daily, it is convenient to feed them three times,^#ijd this 
factor establishes the number of times -they should recei)^%,f^ods of a 
concentrated nature. ^ .^ ;W» ^- 



Care and Management of Test Cows 249 

It is not wise to so train cows that they must be fed while milking. 
It is much better to milk and then feed because cows will milk freer 
when not occupied with eating. More sanitary milk can be produced 
because, if feeds are distributed before milking, more or less dust will 
be present in the air. It is always well to feed cut or chaffed hay 
or straw with the concentrated ration to add bulk unless it is fed with 
silage or roots, which accomplishes the same purpose. An excellent 
plan is that of feeding the concentrated rations, either mixed with or 
placed on top of the succulent food. When the succulent and grain 
rations have been eaten, the cow should be given that amount of hay 
which she will clean up readily. Because a certain amount of dry 
matter is necessary, the overfeeding of succulent foods should be 
guarded against. 

Kindness 

It should be so well known as not to need even the suggestion 
that cows should be cared for with regularity and kindness. That 
w^hich torments or excites a cow detracts from production. No other 
animal responds to kind, regular, efficient care so promptly as does 
the cow with a highly organized nervous system, and no other animal 
reacts adversely with such certainty to irregularity, mistreatment and 
excitement. From season to season certain changes in the care, feed 
and management of cows are necessary, but all such changes should 
be made carefully, slowly and gradually. Radical changes, even 
though they tend to improve upon conditions, detract from production 
if made too hastily. 

Cleanliness 

Cleanliness is all-essential in the dairy, not only from the stand- 
point of sanitary milk production but for insuring large, profitable 
yields of milk and butterfat. Disinfectants, of w^hich sunshine is one 
of the best, are invaluable. The breeder should always strive to keep 
a herd free from germs and parasites. Cleanliness of barns and ani- 
mals and sanitary methods will accomplish this purpose if applied in- 
telligently, persistently and regularly. . 



CHAPTER XXXVIII. 

MILKING THE COW CORRECTLY 

There is not much to be gained by feeding a cow unless you are 
determined to get all the milk and butterfat the feed makes. You 
cannot get all the milk and butterfat the feed makes unless you milk 
the cow right. A large percentage of cows are not milked right, so a 
large loss of milk and a larger loss of butterfat result. It is as im- 
portant that cows be well milked as it is that they be well fed. 

Milking should be systematically done. This is generally known 
and acknowledged to the extent of regularity but few who milk cows 
systematize the operation further. Milkers are usually boastful of 
the number of cows they can milk in an hour. Sometimes they lay 
claim to the ability of milking a cow dry and that they accomplish the 
purpose with dry hands. Very seldom does one lay claim to the art 
of co-operating with the feeder in an attempt to encourage persistency 
of milk flow or enriching it. However, the milker can do more 
towards increasing the test of a cow, and almost, if not quite, as much 
by way of stimulating a large, persistent yield of milk as can the 
feeder. 

Therefore, a treatise on feeding the dairy cow, to be complete, 
must urge not only the feeder to stimulate the cow to make milk and 
butterfat, but also it must urge the milker and tell him how to secure 
the milk and butterfat after it is made. 

The best way to dry a cow is to leave in the udder comparatively 
large quantities of milk. The best way to encourage large and per- 
sistent milking is to systematically take from the udder every drop 
of milk at regular intervals. If leaving in the udder large quantities 
of milk turns a cow dry, leaving in the udder small quantities of milk 
detracts from persistency. 

Whether the cow is to be milked by hand or w^ith a machine, she 
should be prepared for milking. The first step in this direction is to 
cleanse the udder and flanks. This is advisable because milk is a food 
for human beings and there is no more justification for the man who 
disregards cleanliness in milking a cow than there is for the woman 
who disregards cleanliness in frying potatoes; not as much, because 
the cooking of potatoes kills the germs that may happen to accompany 
the dirt to the skillet, but milking a cow does not kill the germs that 
happen to accompany the dirt to the milk pail. 

But this phase of the question pertains more to sanitation than to 
largeness of production and, regardless of sanitation, the cow should 



Milking the Cow Correctly 251 

be prepared for milking before the actual process of milking begins. 

It is not infrequent to hear milkers abuse, with words and other- 
wise, cows because they will not give down their milk, when by all 
rules of common sense the milker and not the cow is deserving of the 
abuse. A cow is not merely a reservoir containing a given volume of 
milk that she can give down, or hold up, as she chooses. The process of 
giving milk is an intricate one governed very largely by the nervous 
system of the animal which may be controlled through the cow by 
the milker. A brief review of the manner in which milk is made re- 
veals this fact. A cow giving milk is a continuous worker. Unlike 
other animals, she works 24 hours a day, eating, digesting, assimilat- 
ing food and depositing the digested nutrients in the udder and mak- 
ing milk and butterfat therefrom. Her udder, from outward appear- 
ances, is composed of four quarters and four teats. These quarters, 
however, are each peculiarly and wonderfully composed. In this 
respect cows diflPer very largely and to the extent which they differ 
they may be classified as good cows or poor cows, other things being 
equal. 

Just above the base of each teat in the udder little reservoirs called 
milk cisterns are to be found. These vary in capacity, but they are 
seldom large enough to hold more than about one-half pint. Above 
these milk cisterns are the milk-making glands which appear to the 
naked eye more like a large sponge than anything else with which they 
can be compared. Only with a microscope can definite knowledge 
regarding them be secured. Such a study shows the glands to consist 
of small cavities varying in size connected with little canals, each 
canal leading upward and terminating in tiny cavities which are called 
alveoli. Surrounding and associated with each microscopic alveolus is 
a mass of arteries, veins, lymph vessels and nerves. In the udder are 
innumerable active centers of this kind, and each is a little factory 
unto itself. In other words, it is in the alveoli that the elaboration or 
manufacture of milk takes place. The alveoli are separated from each 
other by tissues which support and give form to the udder but other- 
wise have nothing to do with milk-making. An overabundance of this 
tissue in comparison to the size and numerousness of the alveoli causes 
an udder to be large but fatty or beefy in texture, and therefore ineffi- 
cient. The udder made up largely of alveoli with just enough of the 
connective tissue to give form and support to it represents an ideal 
structure, and it is such an udder that may increase to large pro- 
portions between milkings and, as the process of milking takes place, 
decrease in size or collapse and when milking is finished hang like a 
dish rag. 

Between milking periods the cow eats and digests food. The 
blood pumped out from the heart passes along the digestive system, 



252 



Feeding the Dairy Cow 







First carefully wash the udder, teats and flank with a cloth or sponge 
moistened with water that is warm in cold weather or cool in warm weather. 

picks Up or absorbs the digested nutrients, and carries them to the 
alveoli. Here they are deposited for elaboration and the udder is ex- 
panded by their presence. Contrary to the belief of many, the udder 
never contains any great amount of milk. This has been proven con- 
clusively. A cow milking heavily may be killed just before time to 
milk and the udder dissected and it will be found that only a small 
quantity of milk is present in the cisterns just above the teats and a 
small drop of milk will be found here and there among the alveoli 
and the tissues of the udder. 

This brief explanation illustrates the fact that the true manufac- 
ture of food nutrients into milk takes place during the few minutes 
occupied by the actual process of milking. This is the reason why the 
art of milking is of so much importance. It is the reason why the 
manner in Which the cow gives down her milk is so largely under the 
control of the milker. It is the reason why the cow should be pre- 
pared for milking before the actual labor of milking begins. It is the 
reason why the milker should have the confidence of the cow that he 
may encourage her to have full and favorable control over her ner- 
vous system, which in reality governs the elaboration or manufacture 
of milk. It is the reason why the excited cow fails to give down her 
milk freely and completely. That method of approaching the cow 
at milking time which quiets her nervous system, frees her from fear 
and gives her confidence that she is not to be harmed, causes the milk 
manufacturing centers to work normally and efficiently. Likewise, 
that which generates fear and a lack of confidence in the cow affects 



Milking the Cow Correctly 



253 




Washing the udder, teats aind flank being followed promptly with a soft, dry 
towel, causes the cow to begin converting nutrients into milk 

the entire nervous system, including the small nerves affecting the 
alveoli, v^ith the result that milk is made hesitatingly and inefficiently 
and a small flow of milk, slowly yielded, is received. 

It is, therefore, apparent that to hastily sit down and grab a pair 
of the cow's teats, or without giving warning attach the milk cups of 
a machine, acts unfavorably upon a prompt and free release of the 
volume of milk. 

The advisable method is that of approaching the cow in a friend- 
ly, quiet manner, and first carefully washing the udder, teats and 
flank with a cloth or sponge moistened with water that is warm in 
cold weather or cool in warm weather. From a sanitary standpoint 
the adding of a small amount of non-odorous, efficient disinfectant is 
advisable because it kills germ life that may be present to affect the 
quality of milk adversely, and such frequent applications of a mild 
disinfecting solution keep the teats free from sores and cracks. The 
application of moisture proves comfortable and reassuring to the cow, 
and this, being followed promptly with a soft, dry towel, causes her 
to begin converting nutrients into milk, which she is prepared to give 
freely to her master. Furthermore, when this method is followed, 
the necessity for wetting the hands at intervals — a most abominable 
practice — is eliminated, for the cow's teats will be in the most pliable 
and acceptable condition for milking. 

But a moment is required for the cleansing and drying process 
which, if carefully applied, is a large saving of time and temper. 

Which teat to milk first is largely a matter of convenience to the 



254 



Feeding the Dairy Cow 




Milking should begin slowly, the rapidity being increased as the fr«e- 
dom with which the milk comes increases. 

milker, but milking one hind teat and the opposite front teat and then 
the other pair tends to keep the quarters of the udder more even and 
uniform in size and shape than though the usual custom of first milk- 
ing the front pair of teats and then the hind pair is followed. 

The actual process of milking needs little discussion, for if the 
milker keeps his finger nails closely trimmed, grasps the teats with 
a full hand, close up to the udder, and applies just enough pressure 
tending downward without unnecessary pulling or* stretching the 
teats, milk will come freely and rapidly. 

Milking should begin slowly, the rapidity being increased as the 
freedom with which the milk comes increases. Once begun, the milk- 
ing should be done quickly but without hurrying. 

Finally, when the stream becomes small and the milk comes spar- 
ingly from one pair of teats, the other pair should be milked with the 
same system and promptness. By that time, more milk will have 
entered the first pair of teats and they should be milked out and such 
a second milking given to the other teats, always using the full hand 
and never tolerating stripping with the thumb and finger. Cows 
having teats so short that the stripping method seems absolutely 
necessary should be disposed of or always milked with machines. Life 
is too short to sit and strip milk with the thumb and finger especially, 
because the process spoils a cow causing her to become a slow, 
tedious milker, requiring so much time for milking that she fails to be 
profitable. 

When all possible milk has been obtained by this quick, easy and 



Milking the Cow Correctly 255 

simple method, the udder should be rather vigorously yet carefully 
manipulated to stimulate the milk-making glands to further and more 
complete activity ; for it is the last milk that is richest and most valu- 
able; and, furthermore, manipulation is the best method of increasing- 
size, activity and efficiency of the glands, which respond in proportion 
to the completeness of their development. 

The cow milked in the manner thus far described, although only 
partially milked, is better milked than is the general custom. How- 
ever, it is at this point that the extra minute or two already saved by 
the expert, systematic milker is put in good use. More milk, extra 
rich in quality, can yet be secured. The question of whether this 
milk is secured and how determines to a large degree the richness of 
the entire volume, the persistency of the cow and the completeness 
with which her milk-yielding powers are developed. 

The athlete knows that exercise, followed by rubbing, massaging 
and manipulating the muscles, makes them stronger, more active and 
more efficient. The expert milker finds this to be true also regarding 
the milk-making glands. To accomplish the purpose one athlete fol- 
lows one method while others accomplish the same purpose by using 
methods entirely different in detail but the same in general principle. 
But each recognizes some one method and follows it systematically. 
Likewise, various methods may be employed in manipulating the 
cow's udder, but each milker should adopt an efficient method and 
follow it systematically. ''Practice makes perfect." By following 
the same plan every time each cow is milked, the operator soon be- 
comes so expert that no more time is required for securing all of the 
milk than is required to obtain only the first part of it. In fact, be- 
cause the cow gives her milk more promptly and more freely and be- 
cause the detrimental practice of stripping is eliminated, systematiz- 
ing the work really saves time. It does more than this. That which 
is considered an irksome job becomes an interesting occupation. When 
ambition enters with the milk pail, drudgery leaves with the litter car- 
rier. 

To illustrate with one of scores of instances the writer has ex- 
perienced : A young man, particularly willing to work and almost 
over-ambitious to excel his associates by securing comparatively 
large and rich yields of milk from a string of cows he was milking 
that he might win promotion and milk a string of cows on official test, 
was at the point of discouragement because, regardless of how hard 
he worked, the milk sheet showed his cows decreased more rapidly in 
milk flow than those milked by others and the Babcock tester gave 
them a lower test. 

One morning, as he was sitting down to milk a heifer, the super- 
intendent handed him a pint bottle and asked that he fill it, taking 



256 



Feeding the Dairy' Cow 




Figure A, The front quarters are firmly pressed together and then like pressure is applied to 

the hind quarters. 

equal portions from each quarter. This done, the bottle was labeled 
and set aside. 

The second pint bottle was presented to him with a like request 
just as he had presumably finished milking the heifer and was leaving 
with his pail of milk. He protested that no more milk could be secured, 
but the superintendent insisted. The attempt was successfully made 
and later the two samples thus secured were tested with the assist- 



Milking the Cow Correctly 



.257 




Fig^ure B. The front and rear quarters on one side and then on the other receive pressure 

from the hainds. 

ance of the milker, who was amazed to find that the first sample tested 
only 2.3 per cent while the second one tested 15 per cent. 

Even as is a word to the wise sufficient, so this demonstration 
proved to be the necessary lesson to the willing worker, ambitious to 
become an expert milker. From that day on he was the best milker 
in the barn. His cows always tested highest and milked most per- 
sistently because he had learned how to legitimately add to each milk- 



258 



Feeding the Dairy Cow 



ing of every cow a pint of milk, creamy in richness, and the manner 
in which he secured it exercised, stimulated and developed the milk- 
making glands. 

Methods Are Numerous 

The method of manipulation is important only to the extent that 
systematized effort saves time and, being uniform in application, 
greater response may be expected. It has long been known in Euro- 
pean countries that efficient milking depends upon udder manipula- 
tion. Different methods are employed in different parts of the coun- 
try. In Bohemia, where farms and herds are small, it is desirable and 
necessary to obtain all that is possible from an individual. Cows and 
goats are strenuously milked. 

The method employed is to set the pail aside after the first milk- 
ing is finished and then gently yet vigorously slap the udder with the 
palms of the hands several times and then proceed with a second milk- 
ing. From this process have been derived the terms '*cow slappers" 
and "goat slappers," which terms are frequently used in referring to 
expert milkers. 

Dr. Hegelund of Norway was the first to outline a definite, sys- 
tematic method of udder manipulation. So great were the results 
secured by him that his method, original and with deviations, is very 
largely used all over Europe and by those in this country who have 
realized that milking may be so scientifically accomplished as to be- 
come an art. 

Professors WoU and Carlyle of the Wisco^isin Experiment Sta- 
tion many years ago carried on extensive experiments to determine 
the merits of udder manipulation as recommended by Dr. Hegelund. 
After testing the plan on a few cows in the college herd they prac- 
ticed on 12 different herds containing a total of 142 cows, found on 





u^'O 


Average yield 


After 


Average gain 


^1| 


d 


o _y 


per day 


milking 






-S8 


13 














s 


Milk 


Fat 


Milk 


Fat 


Milk 


Fat 




w 


^s 


pounds 


pounds 


pounds 


pounds 


per cent 


per c^ent 


«^ > 


1 


11 


23.1 


1.09 


.75 


.09 


3.2 


8.1 


2.2-22.3 


2 


10 


49.0 


1.66 


1.79 


.14 


3.7 


8.3 


2.7-23.6 


3 


12 


31.2 


1.58 


.55 


.07 


1.8 


4.4 


1.5-11.3 


4 


8 


25.5 


1.10 


.76 


.08 


3.0 


7.5 


2.2-15.9 


5 


8 


18.6 


.83 


.61 


.07 


3.2 


7.9 


3.812.5 


6 


15 


28.4 


.80 


1,87 


.16 


10.2 


20.1 


4.4.37-5 


7 


8 


13.5 


.59 


1.25 


.13 


9.3 


22.4 


9. 6-58. S 


8 


10 


26.8 


.85 


1.08 


.08 


4.0 


9.2 


2.8-19.7 


9 


6 


12.0 


.54 


.59 


.06 


4.9 


11.5 


4.3-21.3 


10 


10 


11.7 


.61 


.81 


.12 


6.9 


19.1 


3.9-71.9 


11 


11 


16.0 


.62 


1.02 


.10 


6.4 


16.2 


4.4-72.1 


12 


8 


20.8 


.92 


1.68 


.18 


8.1 


19.7 


5.5-57.2 


Univers'y 


















herd 


25 


22.3 


.93 


1.01 


.09 


4.5 


9.2 


3.0-30.2 


Total and 


















ar'ge 


142 






1.08 


.10 


5.3 


12.6 


1.5-72.1 



Milking the Cow Correctly 259 

practical dairy farms. The preceding table shows the average yield 
of milk and fat secured by milking as generally practiced, that pro- 
duced by after milking, the average gain and the range in gain of but- 
terfat for the individual cows of the herds : 

It will be noted that there was a total average daily gain of 1.08 
pounds of milk, .10 pounds of butterfat, and that these gains amounted 
to an increase in production of 5.3 per cent in milk and 12.6 per cent 
in butterfat. The most striking knowledge is that portrayed by the 
column which shows the great difference in gain of individual cows 
in every herd experimented with. The fact that the variation ranges 
from 1.5 per cent to 72.1 per cent shows plainly that every milker 
should be equipped with knowledge of udder manipulation that such 
knowledge may be employed with cows where it is most necessary 
at least. The results of the experiment show conclusively that it is 
profitable to methodically manipulate the udders of all cows at every 
milking, and very apparently it is absolutely essential in order to se- 
cure more than 28 per cent of the production certain cows are capable 
of yielding. So fully is this recognized in Denmark — which country 
is noted because of the large average production secured from her 
cows — that one-week short courses are held for the specific purpose of 
teaching how cows should be milked. Women, boys and girls attend 
these short courses by the thousands because they are the ones who 
do most of the milking in Denmark. The result is that, instead of be- 
ing considered a necessary task and irksome duty, milking there is 
considered a most honorable mission, and those who milk cows pride 
themselves in doing so efficiently, scientifically, even artistically. 

There can be no doubt that this education in milking cows, which 
is so generally given in Denmark, accounts largely for the extra pro- 
duction. Although the scholar secures the diploma after attending 
school only one week, Denmark has, by appreciating the discovery of 
Dr. Hegelund, profited to the extent of millions of dollars annually 
and attained the distinction of being by far the greatest dairy country, 
size considered, in the world. 

An excellent method of udder manipulation, which may be very 
profitably employed by those who milk cows, and especially by those 
desiring to secure record production, is shown by the accompanying 
illustrations. When the first milking is finished, the front quarters 
are firmly pressed together and then like pressure is applied to the hind 
quarters, according to Figure A. The front and rear quarters on one 
side are then grasped with the hands and pressure applied as shown 
in Figure B, The process is duplicated with the quarters on the 
other side. Then, reaching as high as possible, the milker grasps the 
two rear quarters and presses as illustrated by Figure C. The same 
manipulations are then accorded the front quarters. These operations 



260 



Feeding the Dairy Cow 




Figure C. Reaching as high as possible, the milker grasps the hind quarters and presses. 



require the expenditure of but a few minutes as one becomes expe- 
rienced in practicing them. The attempt should be to gently apply- 
just enough pressure to every part of each quarter to massage 
thoroughly the entire udder. This stimulates the glands to further 
action and causes the secretion of additional milk. 

With the use of the full hand the cow is again milked. Because 
the manipulations have encouraged the extra milk secreted to fill the 



i 



Milking the Cow Correctly 261 

milk cisterns, milking is quickly done. If no further effort is made 
results such as the Hegelund method insure will be secured, but ad- 
ditional and even richer milk is yet available. 

As illustrated by Figure D, the milker uses both hands in securing 
the few final strips from each teat. With one hand the udder, up 
close to the body, is grasped and pressed while with the other hand 
the milk encouraged by this movement is drawn. The same move- 
ments are practiced on each of the quarters. 

Udder Manipulation Is Practical 

The over-practical dairyman may insist that too much time, effort 
and theory are required for such a process of milking. The answer 
to this claim is that whatever is worth doing at all is worth doing 
well ; that, when a milker becomes accustomed to the method, little 
or no more time is required to milk a cow than is required by hap- 
hazard milking and that, even though a minute or more is required, 
the extra amount of milk, and the richness of it, together with the 
persistency encouraged in the cow and the added development she at- 
tains, insure profit greater in most instances than the total profit 
secured from ordinary milking. That this is true has been conclu- 
sively proven by all experiments and experience. 

On that day, when Germany crossed the Belgian border, the peo- 
ple of America entered upon a period different that any other they had 
ever experienced ; a period when more than ever before they needed to 
look to that which has been wasted in the past for the profits of the 
future. The milk sacrificed by common milking is extravagant waste 
and in a large portion of instances measures the difference between 
profit and loss. With land, labor, feed, and cows high in price there 
can be no question as to the advisability of milking good cows, pro- 
vided they are milked efficiently ; otherwise, there is mtich doubt. 

Most Objections Are False Ones 

A further objection to the manipulation method of milking is that 
it is liable to cause cows to withold their milk at the first milking, 
awaiting the second milking. On the contrary, however, experiments 
show that the opposite is true. As the cow advances in lactation and 
becomes accustomed to this thorough milking, less milk is secured 
following the manipulations. 

There may also be a belief that because the cow is so thoroughly 
milked at one milking she will give less at the next. In this instance, 
also, the opposite is true. The more the udder is massaged, provided 
it is gently done, the more the glands are stimulated and, because of 
the manipulation and the extra thorough milking occasioned thereby, 
the amount of milk secured at each succeeding milking will be greater 
than though the cow had been less thoroughly milked. 



262 



Feeding the Dairy Cow 




Figure D. Both hands are used m securng the final few strips from each teat. 



Beneficial Effects Transmitted 

Whether the beneficial effects upon the cow will be inherited by 
her offspring' is a ciuestion of whether acquired characteristics are 
transmitted to the offspring". If so — and there is favorable reason for 
believing in the affirm^ative — the daughters of efficiently milked cows 
will be inherently greater producers and the sons of such cows will 
transmit the large producing characteristics to their daughters. 



Mtlktng the Cow Correctly 263 

Udder Troubles Prevented 

As a rule, the majority of udder troubles are due to inefficient 
milking. Blind quarters, uneven and unbalanced udders, as well as 
those diminutive in size, are caused by careless, haphazard milking. 
Very seldom indeed do udder troubles occur when cows are thoroughly 
milked and the udders massaged twice or oftener daily. As a matter 
of fact, it is well known that the best treatment that can be afforded 
an udder troubled with garget or other infection is thorough massag- 
ing and frequent and thorough milking. If for no other reason a 
methodical system of milking should be employed except for develop- 
ing udders and keeping them shapely in form and in healthy, working 
condition, this reason would suffice to make it advisable. 

Milking Becomes a Profession 

Best of all, the milker becomes impressed with the fact that his 
duty is more than merely that of pulling teats. He becomes imbued 
with the importance of his work. He realizes that his mission is one 
of furnishing the most necessary of human foods. His job becomes 
a profession, and, realizing that he is accomplishing as useful and as 
necessary a mission as is any man in the world, the milking of cows 
ascends to a plane of dignity equal to any other phase of agriculture. 

Useful Supplement to Machines 
Gradually hand milking is giving way to machine milking, and 
where machines are used the udder manipulations are even more nec- 
essary. In most instances it will be found more advantageous in se- 
curing all the milk a cow yields, in eiicouraging her persistency and 
in avoiding udder troubles to massage the udder and permit the milk- 
ing machine to do the stripping rather than to detach the machine and 
strip the udder by hand. It has seemed strange that manufacturers of 
milking machines have not carried on more exhaustive experiments 
along this line in an attempt to avoid after-milking cows by hand, 
but, great and successful as is the use of milking machines at the pres- 
ent time, the milking machine industry is yet in its infancy and much 
can be reasonably expected in the near future. 



CHAPTER XXXIX. 

CARE AND MANAGEMENT OF THE HERD BULL 

If milk and butterfat production is considered merely on a tem- 
porary basis or from the viewpoint of what can be secured from 
aay to day, it makes little difference how the bull is fed and cared for. 
But those who look far into the future with a determination to build 
up permanently the production of their herds know that the herd sire 
is a great essential factor in building up production from generation 
to generation. 

Increased production, accomplished by improved methods of 
feeding cows and caring for them, amounts to little if it is offset by 
breeding the herd downward with inferior bulls or with good bulls 
improperly cared for. It is, therefore, essential that the services of 
only good bulls, properly fed and cared for, are employed. 

When the bull is a year old he is ready for light service if he has 
been liberally and intelligently fed and well raised. At this time he 
should be considered as a herd sire, and no longer as a calf. He should 
be handled, cared for and fed as a bull at all times, that his usefulness 
and value will not only be conserved but increased. If a bull is good 
enough to begin using, he is good enough to use throughout his serv- 
iceable life unless his daughters w^hen they come to milking age 
prove him a failure. 

The usual custom of using *a bull only two or three years and then 
sending him to slaughter is one of the most abominable practices, occa- 
sioning one of the most sinful and extravagant wastes, practiced by 
the American farmer, dairyman and breeders. 

Inferior bulls should never be placed at the head of herds and, if 
by chance such a bull is found in service, he should be sent to the 
butcher at once ; but the bull that proves himself capable of bettering 
the individuality and increasing the production of a herd should be 
prized highly, cared for properly and kept in service throughout his 
lifetime. This indicates that which is true — that no bull whose indi- 
viduality and breeding denote that he should be a great sire should 
ever be destroyed until his true worth is known. 

One reason why many good bulls are sacrificed is that a new bull 
is substituted to prevent inbreeding. 

This is not a logical reason and is responsibly to a very large de- 
gree, for so many nondescript bulls being in service. If every good 
purebred, successful sire would be reserved by his owner to be used 
on his own granddaughters, one of the most successful plans of line- 



Care and Management of the Herd Bull 265 

breeding' would thereby be inaugurated. A greater general improve- 
ment of the herds of this country would result from a wholesale ap- 
plication of this plan than from any other. 

Dairymen object to paying what a really good bull is worth be- 
cause they fig'ure they can use him only two or three years and will 
then have to suffer a considerable financial loss when he must go to 
the butcher. Therefore, they purchase the kind of calves which will 
return them the original cost price, or nearly that much, when the 
butcher bu3^s them. If, on the other hand, a herd sire was purchased 
with the understanding that he would be used for 10 or 12 years, the 
dairyman could see his way clear to purchase bulls of higher char- 
acter that would improve his herd with certainty. 

The only objections to this plan are that two bulls instead of one 
must be kept in service, that bulls become vicious, and, as they be- 
come old, their prepotency becomes impaired. 

To build up a herd successfully, however, it is necessary to keep 
more than one bull in service, and it should be remembered that it 
costs less to keep an extra bull on the farm than it does to purchase 
new bulls often and run the chance of securing an occasional one that 
will tear down the improvement that former bulls have built up. 
Therefore, this objection needs no further discussion except the sug- 
gestion that community breeding, or two neighboring dairymen going 
together and using their bulls interchangeably, will solve in the best 
possible manner the problem of conserving exceptionally good bulls. 

The question-as to whether bulls become vicious or impotent de- 
pends almost entirely on the care, feed and management afforded them. 
Bulls do not become vicious, as a rule, unless viciousness is encouraged 
by mistreatment ; and bulls do not become impotent, as a rule, unless 
impotency is encouraged by mismanagement or improper feeding. 

When the bull is placed in service he should be given a roomy, 
light, comfortable, dry box stall that is always kept clean and well 
bedded. Such a stall should open into a paddock consisting of ap- 
proximately one acre of ground fenced so strongly that the bull will 
never conceive the idea that it is possible for him to break out. Such 
a stall and paddock provide ample room for every necessity of the 
t)ull. The stall provides for protection and comfort and the paddock 
offers opportunity for sufficient exercise in the fresh air and sunshine 
to insure excellence of health. 

The paddock fence should be made of heavy woven wire attached 
to strong, well set posts, and, if necessary, reinforced with barbed 
wire or planks. It should not be a tight board fence which places the 
bull in solitary confinement, for nothing tends more toward promot- 
ing viciousness in any animal than penning him up in such a way that 
he has no freedom whatever. 



266 FEF.DING THE DaIRY CoW 

When the bull is yet young he should be trained. He should be 
treated kindly but firmly and taught to know and respect his master. 
A strong, smooth ring of copper or gunmetal should be placed in his 
nose and this should be examined occasionally and replaced with a 
new one at first indication of weakening. The first lesson the bull 
should be taught is that of permitting himself, to be caught by the ring. 
Then, leading him to water once or twice daily and leading him out 
for service will quickly teach him that being caught by the ring and 
leading are not experiences to be dreaded. Unless he is abused at 
some time this training will last him as long as he lives, and, although 
he should always be led with a staff after he is more than a year old, 
he can always be handled with safety unless in some way or other he 
has become spoiled. 

This system of management Avill also prevent impotency, provid- 
ed the bull is not overworked. Never should he be permitted to 
serve a cow more than once at one heat period. Additional services 
make conception no more certain and needlessly overtax the sire. 
Seldom, if ever, is it necessary or advisable to use him more than once 
daily and, until he is 18 months old, two or three services a week are all 
that should be permitted. The following of this rule prohibits per- 
mitting the bull to run with the herd, a practice which is abominable in 
that it is dangerous, wears out useful breeding animals, causes them 
to become vicious and makes it impossible for the dairyman to keep 
a record of breeding- dates, w^hich is one of the great essentials in se- 
curing and raising calves successfully. 

To prevent contagious disease and keep the bull in healthful 
breeding condition, the sheath should be thoroughly cleansed with a 
mild, non-irritating, efficient disinfecting solution following each serv- 
ice. This can best be accomplished by tying the bull following 
service and by the use of a large syringe, douching the sheath with 
two or three syringefuls of the solution. If care is taken to handle 
the bull gently and to make sure that the disinfectant solution is never 
too strong, it will be found to be a very simple as well as advisable 
operation to follov/. In fact, where this plan is strictly adhered to, 
contagious abortion seldom makes it appearance, and in case it does 
it is quickly stamped from the herd. Where this plan is not followed 
it is almost impossible to get rid of contagious abortion, once it has 
attacked a herd. 

Very often bulls — especially those that are allowed to Avear their 
horns — molest fences and are difficult to catch. For these reasons it 
is not advisable to let them run loose, even in their paddocks. In such 
cases a strong wire cable may be tightly drawn from the front of the 
box stall to the far end of the paddock at a height such that a ring 
.sliding on it when a chain connects it with the bull's ring, will just 



Care and Management of the Herd Bull 267 

pass under the top of the box stall door frame. This plan gives the 
bull almost as much freedom as though he were running loose, it pro- 
vides him ample opportunity for exercise and yet it keeps him under 
the absolute control of his master. It is a plan which enables one to 
handle any bull, even though he may be inclined toward viciousness. 

In fact, it is less difficult to preserve the usefulness of a bull which 
it is necessary to handle in this manner than it is one of a dull, slug- 
gish nature, because the active bull will take daily exercise of his own 
accord sufficient to keep him in the best possible breeding condition, 
while the one of a more sluggish temperament will fail to do so. In 
the latter case, as such bulls attain age, exercise being so necessary to 
preserve potency, it will be found advisable to provide some system of 
exercise such as working the animal on a treadmill, leading him a mile 
or so daily, or placing in his paddock one or two younger bulls that 
will encourage him to take sufficient exercise. 

Expressed in a few words, the care and management which sires 
should receive consist of keeping the bull under control and yet pro- 
viding him with comfortable conditions and sufficient exercise, and 
preventing overservice. Where the attempt is made tne mgenuity of 
man suffices to accomplish the desired end. By controlling the bull 
according to his individual requirements it is possible for his attendant 
to treat him with firmness and yet w^ith kindness. 

It should be remembered that bulls have minds of their own and 
use them. Seldom, if ever, will they attack their attendants when 
their attendants are alert and on guard. This is the reason why 
gentle bulls are the most dangerous. Mean bulls are always watched 
closely, but much confidence is placed in gentle bulls, with the result 
that invariably serious accidents are traced to gentle bulls carelessly 
handled rather than to active bulls carefully managed. 

Because herd sires are kept for the purpose of transmitting their 
most valuable characteristics, .it is essential that they be managed in 
such a way as to make this possible, and likewise it is necessary to 
feed them in such a manner that no valuable characteristic possessed 
by them will lie dormant and not be transmitted to their offspring. 

Bulls should be kept in good condition, which is a state of being 
neither too fat nor too poor. If allowed to become emaciated their 
offspring will be deprived of many inherent qualities of excellence. 
On the other hand, if the bull is permitted to become overfat, and to 
remain that way for a considerable period of time, he is quite liable to 
become impotent and useless. 

Until they have reached maturity, bulls should be fed rather lib- 
erally of a growing ration. An abundance of clover hay or other 
leguminous hays is advisable. Roots and silage may be fed but in 
amounts more limited than to dairy cows. Green soiling crops or 



268 Feeding the Dairy Cow 

pasturage are always advisable when in season. An excellent grow- 
ing ration is one consisting of two parts ground corn, two parts 
ground oats, two parts bran, and one part oil meal. This ration, or 
its equivalent composed by using similar feeds, is excellent for bulls 
of all ages. 

When the bull has reached maturity it often becomes necessary 
to limit the amount of roughage to keep the animal in readily service- 
able condition and, as a rule, when the bull has reached complete de- 
velopment very little grain is necessary to keep him in prime condi- 
tion. Even as "the eye of the master fatteneth his cattle," so does the 
eye of the master determine by the condition of the bull the amount 
of roughage and grain he should have daily. 

As in feeding cows, this can be determined in no other way ex- 
cept by a consideration of the individual. Some bulls can consume 
large volumes of roughage and yet remain in condition to serve 
promptly, while others become slow or even absolute failures if too 
much roughage is fed. Also, there are bulls which require, even after 
they have attained maturity, from 8 to 12 pounds of grain daily to 
keep them in the most thrifty and prepotent condition, while others, 
if fed more than four or five pounds of grain daily, become overfat, 
sluggish, and their years of usefulness are shortened. 

On the average farm little consideration has in the past been given 
to the feed, care and treatment of bulls, although there is fast becom- 
ing a recognition of the fact that only the best of bulls should be used. 
Fortunate is the farmer, dairyman or breeder who succeeds in secur- 
mg a bull, sufficiently well bred, good enough in individuality, and pre- 
potent enough to transmit the best characteristics of himself and his 
ancestry to his offspring. This being true, the worth of such a bull 
should be recognized and he should be kept in that condition which 
will insure his greatest activity over the longest possible period of 
time. This can be accomplished only by surrounding him with treat- 
ment, care, feed and management that will maintain him from week 
to week and from year to year in the most thrifty, vigorous, healthful 
condition conducive to longevity and service. 



CHAPTER XL. 

THE CARE OF THE CALF 

No discussion on feeding the dairy cow is complete unless it in- 
cludes information relative to the feeding of calves. In fact, the fac- 
tors most essential to success in dairying, as well as in breeding dairy 
cattle, are those pertaining to the use and care of good sires and the 
raising of calves properly and developing them into good cows. 

Under the best of conditions it is doubtful if dairying can be made 
satisfactorily profitable from the standpoint of milk production alone. 
The one who prospers with dairy cattle is the one who feeds and cares 
for his cows so as to encourage large, economical production as a re- 
s«lt,-and then increases his profits by so raising the heifer calves, sired 
by good purebred sires, that they will grow into cows superior to 
their mothers. Such an one is able to sell, each year, nearly half of 
his cows, filling their stalls with heifers that have grown to cowhood 
under conditions most conducive to profitable production. Such an 
one is more than a dairyman. He is a breeder, and, even though he 
milks only grade cows, he finds much pride and profit in building bet- 
ter herds generation after generation. He is not the one who says: 
'T milk just grade cows; therefore, I need only a cheap bull," for he 
soon learns that quite as good a bull is needed for building up a herd 
of grades as is needed for building up a herd of purebreds. 

Very recently an illustration in proof of this statement came to 
my attention. Six years ago a young man in northern Iowa began 
dairying with just good grade cows. He used the best sires he could 
procure, consecutively, raised the calves well and, as they reached 
cowhood, placed them in the stalls from which their less desirable 
mothers had been sold. His neighbor, an older man, started breed- 
ing purebred cattle 25 years ago. He was careless about the sires he 
used and failed to raise his calves well. The dairyman decided to sell 
his grades and go into the purebred business. At the same time the 
breeder decided to sell his purebreds and quit. Buyers visited both 
farms. They paid $111 a head for the grades and $100 a head for the 
purebreds. 

In one instance the owner, although his females were all grades, 
was a breeder as well as a dairyman. In the other instance the owner, 
althougli all of his cattle were purebreds, was just a dairyman. The 
one was prosperous. His cattle had made him a small fortune in six 
years. In fact, I dare say he made more profit and obtained more 
real enjoyment from his cattle in six years than his neighbor did in 25 
years. 



270 Feeding the Dairy Cow 

Counterparts of this illustration are plentiful. Some men breed 
up, others down. And so it must be apparent to the reader that, to 
obtain real success and pleasure from dairying, it is necessary not only 
to feed and care for cows properly; it is necessary to use good, well 
bred and well cared for bulls always and then to raise the calves 
properly. 

Profits will result, as a rule, from milk production, but more and 
surer profits will come from the sale of cows whose places are to be 
filled w^ith daughters which each generation are better than were 
their mothers. 

Given strong, healthy, vigorous calves at birth, the problem of 
calf rearing is not a difficult one. In herds where both cows and sires 
have been fed and cared for according to suggestions given in previ- 
ous chapters calves will come exceedingly strong, healthy, vigorous 
and well formed. At birth the desirable characteristics of their an- 
cestors will be dominant, for they have been well developed by feeding 
the calf prior to birth through its mother, and, because the sire was 
in most potent condition, his characteristics and those of his ancestors 
will assert themselves. 

When the cow gives birth to the calf, she transfers to man the 
oblig"a.tion of further developing the desirable characteristics and the 
growth of the youngster. For the sake of the cow as well as of the 
calf it is advisable for the attendant to be present during the process 
of parturition. Assistance in delivery is sometimes necessary. Oc- 
casionally a calf comes with phlegm in its nostrils or throai or with a 
membrane over its nostrils. These must be removed at once, for, as 
soon as the umbilical cord is broken, the calf must start breathing 
promptly or smother. Such a membrane is easily removed from the 
nostrils by hand and such phlegm as may be in the throat can be easily 
removed by opening the calf's mouth and blowing in it. Sometimes, 
too, especially in the case of young heifers, the mother is liable to 
abuse the calf and she has been known to hook or tramp the infant to 
death. Every such obstacle can be overcome by the attendant being 
present at parturition time, which is especially advisable where the 
calves are prized highly. 

As soon as the calf is born and starts breathing, the umbilical 
cord should be thoroughly disinfected by rubbing it well with a 5 
per cent solution of efficient disinfectant. This is so important that it 
should become a rule followed strictly on every dairy farm. A large 
percentage of calf diseases, such as white scours, hemorrhagic sep- 
ticaemia, etc., result from open wound infections. The most prolific 
source of such infections is the open umbilical cord which has not been 
disinfected. By becoming infected at the time of birth or shortly fol- 
lowing, the germs begin multiplying but may not assert themselves 



The Care of the Calf 271 

until several weeks later, when the calf becomes ill and dies before 
the trouble can be diagnosed or the life of the calf saved. It is well to 
disinfect the umibilical cord or, better, the entire navel, twice daily 
until the umbilical cord has become thoroughly sealed. There are 
some who practice tying a strong cord, thoroughly saturated with dis- 
infectant solution, around the umbilical cord as close to the body as 
possible. The only objection to this method is that complete drainage 
of the umbilical cord is prohibited if the cord is tied tightly, but the 
advantage is that one application of disinfectant solution to the navel 
suffices. 

It is customary to leave the calf with the mother for the first 48 
hours. This is permissible provided the udder and teats of the cow 
are kept clean so that the calf does not take dirt, germs and foreign 
substances that may stick to the teat, into its stomach. Some calves 
are lost in this way wlien their lives could be saved by feeding them 
with their mothers' milk right from the start. There is just enough 
liability of bowel infection occurring from nursing the mother that 
freshens in a stall, so that the extra precaution is recommended of tak- 
ing- the calf away from the mother even before it has nursed at all. By 
so doing, the calf is more easily taught to drink than though left with 
the cow to nurse a few times. On the other hand, the youngster aids 
greatly in relieving inflammation which may be present in the udder 
and, by remaining with its mother, it is afforded milk of proper tem- 
perature and at sufficiently frequent intervals in the most convenient 
manner. The plan is, therefore, permissible, provided the udder and 
teats of the cow are kept clean. 

When the calf is taken from the cow, it should be placed in a box 
stall that is kept scrupulously clean and Avell bedded. It should be 
warm, well lighted and well ventilated. Calves placed in stalls that 
are damp, dirty, dark and poorly ventilated cannot be expected to live. 
It is so easy to admit sunshine and fresh air into the calf stall and it 
is so easy to keep the stall dry, clean and well bedded that there is no 
excuse for keeping a calf in any other kind of stall. So much depends 
upon this* one factor that, unless suitable quarters of this sort are ar- 
ranged, there is little use trying to raise calves successfully. It cannot 
be done. 

Teaching the calf to drink is a very simple task and demands no 
discussion except to state that the calf should be permitted to become 
hungry and then patiently encouraged to drink. 

Both overfeeding and underfeeding cause trouble. If overfed the 
calf scours. If underfed it becomes weak and quickly succumbs to 
any sickness that may attack it. Therefore, the feeder should care- 
fully consider the amount of milk the calf should have and vary the 
amount with the different calves according to their size and vigor. 



272 Feeding the Dairy Cow 

While young the calf should be fed at least three times daily. Two 
pounds at a feed three times a day will suffice at first, and this amount 
can gradually be increased, watching each day to detect any indica- 
tion of approaching scours. 

Calves vary so greatly in their digestive capacities, which govern 
the amount of milk they should have, that no hard and fast rules can 
be given. As in feeding cows, the feeder must govern his operations 
by catering to the individuality of the animal. This requires the use 
of scales. A' large percentage of calf trouble could be eliminated if 
the feeder would weigh the milk given the calf and not increase by 
amounts large^r than one-half pound in any one day. By so doing 
and by watching closely the condition of the calf, any intelligent feeder 
can determine, for himself better than anyone else can determine for 
him how much milk the calf should have. 

Temperature of Milk 

Even as scales are necessary in determining the amount of milk 
a calf should have, so is a floating thermometer (which can be secured 
from any dairy supply house cheaph^) necessary in providing milk of 
the proper temperature. Calves fed warm milk one day and cold milk 
the next do not thrive. More often they die. Nature has provided 
for calves to take milk directly from the teat of the cow and to secure 
it at body temperature, which ranges from '98 to 101 degrees Fahren- 
heit. Not only should milk be fed at a temperature corresponding, 
but it should be fed at the same temperature each time. This can be 
accomplished by milking the cow and taking the milk direct to the 
calf, but it can be better done by the use of a floating thermometer. 

Quality of Milk 

R. M. Washburn has recently completed very extensive experi- 
ments to determine the proper richness of milk for feeding young 
animals. These experiments show with much conclusiveness that the 
best richness to feed is 2^2 per cent. The matter of which breed fur- 
nishes the milk is shown to be of little importance. It is indicated 
that by standardizing rich milk, either by separating and taking away 
part of the butterfat or by adding skim-milk to reduce the test to a 
richness of 2^ per cent, the best of results may be expected provided 
the milk is fed at the right temperature. The feeding of over-rich milk 
tends to cause the animal to become overfat at the expense of growth, 
or to scour. ' 

Cleanliness 

All feeders know so well that feeding utensils should be kept 
scrupulously clean that this phase of the subject should need little or 
no discussion. Suffice to say that if pails are not thoroughly cleansed 
and sterilized by rinsing with scalding water or by subjecting them to 



The Care of the Calf 273 

steam, bacteria multiply and trouble follows. In fact, cleanliness, 
regularity and proper temperatures are the three factors which are ab- 
solutely essential in successful calf raising. Dirt, irregularities, and 
adverse temperatures cause more trouble in raising calves than all 
other factors combined. 

Feeding Grain 
When the calf is a few days old it will begin eating grain. Then, 
if allowed to run with other calves, a little stanchion and feed box 
should be provided for it so that, immediately after it has drunk its 
milk, it may be securely fastened and encouraged to eat grain which 
may consist of two parts oats, two parts corn, two parts bran and one 
part oil meal, or any ration of this character composed of feeds upon 
which calves thrive. It is advisable to encourage calves to eat grain 
at the earliest possible date, for, by tying them up immediately after 
they drink their milk and instilling in them the habit of eating grain 
at once, the pernicious habit of sucking each other's ears and teats is 
overcome. The principal cause for heifers freshening with uneven 
udders and blind quarters is that when they are young they are per- 
mitted to be sucked. This is also the reason why cows oftentimes 
suck themselves or each other. Moreover, when calves begin eating 
dry feed the danger of scours is minimized and the calves grow more 
rapidly and become more thrifty and vigorous. 

Feeding Hay 

In raising calves it is quite as essential that their digestive appa- 
ratus be developed and distended as it is that growth be promoted. 
To accomplish this, it is advisable to encourage the eating of much 
roughage. It is surprising how large an amount of bright, well cured 
clover hay calves will eat if the opportunity is afforded. As soon as 
the calves begin eating grain, good clover hay should be put before 
them at regular intervals so that twice daily they may eat all they 
desire. Clover hay is specified because it contains the growing mate- 
rials calves need, and seemingly they thrive much better on clover hay 
than they do on timothy or alfalfa. If fed alfalfa hay they are liable 
to be affected with scours. 

Feeding Silage 
, While calves are young, it is not advisable to feed them largely 
with silage. They secure succulence from the milk, and experience 
teaches that by withholding further succulence the youngsters are en- 
couraged to eat more largely of grain and hay, which results in greater 
and more rapid development. 

Exercise 

As indicated before, sunshine and fresh air are essential. Also it 
IS well for calves to be permitted to exercise at will. Therefore, dur- 



274 Feeding the Dairy Cow 

ing the warm portions of days in winter and the cool portions of days 

in summer, it is well to permit calves to be out in the open where they 

may exercise freely and take advantage of all the sunshine and fresh 

air that is available. ^ 

Pasturing 

If the calf is born in the fall and wintered properly it should 
be allowed the run of a small pasture or grass paddock during the sum- 
mer. The grass must not be depended upon, however, to supply all 
of the food the calf needs. Grass is largely water and the young calf 
can hardly eat enough to secure sufficient nutrients for proper growth. 
It is, therefore, well to continue feeding grain through the first summer 
and, when the grass becomes dry and short, it is advisable to offer 
the youngster dry hay once or twice daily. By so doing growth and 
development continue in a satisfactory manner. Otherw'ise the animal 
ceases to grow, becomes stunted and does not develop into the ex- 
cellent cow it should become. 

There are those who contend that young calves should not be 
pastured the first summer. The reasons substantiating their claim 
are that the calf's stomach is not large enough so that sufficient grass 
can be eaten to supply the needs of the youngster, and that hot 
weather and flies are more detrimental to calves than to older animals. 
These objections, however, may be overcome by keeping calves in 
cool, darkened, dry, well ventilated quarters, free from flies in the day- 
time, feeding them hay and grain in amounts such as they will clean up 
readily, and allowing them to go to pasture during the hours of dark- 
ness. It is surprising what a large amount of hay calves will eat 
under this system of management and how excellently they will thrive. 

Bearing in mind that the manner in which a calf grows during it? 
first year determines to a large extent its excellence at maturity, the 
wise dairyman and the breeder will take particular pains to so manage 
the youngsters that they will grow with regularity every day. To 
accomplish this necessitates keeping the calves under conditions that 
are comfortable and healthful and supplying proper foods in sufficient 
abundance so that the digestive apparatus will be kept in most efficient 
condition and at all times distended to the extent that most excellent 
development is assured. 

Feeding Skim-milk 

All calves should be kept upon whole-milk for the first two weeks. 
It is during this period that greatest difficulty is exiperienced from 
such troubles as scours, calf cholera, pneumonia, etc. 

Calves born healthy and strong are not born to die and, regard- 
less of what breed they belong to, they can be successfully raised if a 
definite, advisable system of regular care and treatment is provided. 

There is no other phase of dairying w'hich requires so much skill, so 
much patience and so much judgment as the feeding of young calves. 



The Care of the Calf 275 

Tlic first and most important essential is that the quarters where 
calves are stationed be free from germ Hfe. This necessitates the 
stalls being cleaned and bedded daily and disinfectants being used 
freely that every nook and corner, which under careless conditions 
harbor disease-producing germs, be cleaned and disinfected regularly. 

When the calf is two weeks old, if the opportunity is granted, it 
will begin nibbling hay and grain. It should be encouraged in this 
venture because, as soon as a liberal amount of roughage and grain 
is eaten by the calf, the likelihood of scours is greatly lessened. It is 
then time to begin changing the calf from whole-milk to skim-milk. 
This should be done very gradually. Two weeks should be taken in 
changing the calf onto a complete ration of skim-milk. Moreover, 
the skim-milk added to the whole-milk should be of the same tempera- 
ture as the whole-milk, or 98 degrees Fahrenheit. Feeding chilled 
milk to baby calves is enough to cause scours. Every day the calf 
scours its growth is checked and it should be remembered that, once a 
calf begins scouring, it is more susceptible to digestional disorders in 
the future. Very often one case of scours is sufficient to take the life 
of a youngster. 

While the change is being made from new milk to skim-milk the 
liquid ration should not be increased because feeding an extra amount 
of skinx-milk will not take the place of the butterfat removed from the 
whole-milk, and time enough awaits to increase the amount given 
after the calf has successfully been transferred to a complete ration of 
skim-milk. 

The foam which rises on top of skim-milk as it comes from the 
separator should not be given to small calves. It causes them to 
bloat and this often terminates in scours. 

After the calf is on a complete ration of skim-milk it is advisable 
to increase the amount given very gradually, being careful never to 
overfeed. The amount of skim-milk varies according to the size, 
strength and condition of the calf, and this can be determined only 
by the feeder who learns by studying each individual calf. There is 
no better feed than skim-milk for young animals, so that it should be 
used as largely as possible and its use continued for six months, or 
even longer, if an economical supply is available. 

As a precaution against scours and for providing bone and muscle- 
growing material in the most digestible form, blood meal, or, better, 
blood flour, which can be secured from all large packing concerns, 
may be used to excellent advantage by putting a teaspoonful in the 
calf's milk and gradually increasing this so that when the calf is six 
weeks old it will be receiving a tablespoonful with each portion of 
milk it drinks. 



276 Feeding the Dairy Cow 

Skim-milk already rich in protein will be rendered richer in this 
respect, Which makes it even more advisable to feed freely of a grain 
ration supplying carbohydrates and fat, as corn, oats and oil meal do. 

Buttermilk 

This by-product, being of practically the same composition as 
skim-milk, will produce as good results in raising calves as will skim- 
milk. More care is necessary in teaching calves to drink buttermilk 
because it is sour, but, if it is gradually substituted, as it and skim- 
milk should be, calves will take kindly to it, make just as good growth 
and be even less subject to scours than though they were fed skim- 
milk. Care, of course, should be taken to feed the buttermilk at each 
feeding period in a condition as nearly uniform in acidity as possible. 

A precaution that should be taken in feeding milk to calves is to 
makt sure the milk is not infected with the disease germs of tuber- 
culosis, white scours, or contagious abortion. 

Skim-milk or buttermilk secured from sources that permit the 
mixing of milk from many herds, or where milk is fed from a herd 
suspected of being affected with either tuberculosis or contagious 
abortion, should be thoroughly pasteurized before feeding. There is 
no method by which a clean herd can be developed from a diseased 
herd with certainty unless this precaution is followed. 

Water 

Some calf raisers erroneously believe that because calves have 
milk to drink they need no water. As a matter of fact, when given the 
opportunity and provided with clean water of suitable temperature, 
calves drink large amounts and thrive accordingly. - They will not 
grow satisfactorily unless they are thus provided for. 

Calf Meals 

There are many very excellent calf meals on the market which 
can be purchased at prices warranting their use. 

The manufacturers of these feeds have given the subject of calf 
feeding careful study because the success of their business depends 
upon the excellence of the results that may be secured when their 
feeds are put to practical use. 

For this reason the directions of the manufacturers should be 
followed to the letter when their feeds are used, and if this is done 
there is no doubt that additional gain in growth and condition may be 
expected. 

Where whole-milk is sold, the problem of raising calves is more 
difficult and it is then that calf meals are absolutely essential. In the 
beginning they should be used Avith whole-milk, which can be gradually 
eliminated by substituting warm water in its place. 



The Care of the Calf 277 

Experience shows that very excellent calves can be raised in this 
manner, especially v^hen they are well fed and given hay in addition. 

Also, whey resulting from cheesemaking can be used to advan- 
tage when the nutrients that have been taken away are replaced with 
calf meal of a suitable character. 

It cannot be expected that calves will look as sleek and fat when 
they are raised on calf meals and warm water or whey, but the scales 
will,S:how that- the calf is making almost, if not quite, as large growth. 
Where special pains are taken it will be found that at maturity the 
calves will have developed into just as good cows, as large in size 
and as excellent in dairy proclivities as though they had been raised 
on milk, and the cost of raising them will have been considerably 
less, except where an abundance of skim-milk is available. 

Calf Scours 

Even when most careful attention is given to the feeding and care 
of calves, scours sometimes occur. Upon the first indication im- 
mediate attempts should be made to check the disease. The amount 
of milk should be reduced and two or three ounces of castor oil given 
the calf by pouring it on the root of the tongue. If this is done soon 
enough and the milk ration reduced no further trouble should be ex- 
perienced. 

If the scours do continue a solution composed of one-half ounce 
of formalin in 15J/2 ounces of water should be provided and one tea- 
spoonful for each pound of milk fed should be given until scouring 
ceases. 

An excellent remedy for curing severe cases of scours is as fol- 
lows : One ounce bismuth subnitrate, one ounce salol and three 
ounces bicarbonate of soda given at the rate of one teaspoonful three 
or four times per day in three ounces of milk as a drench. Usually 
the treatment will check the most serious case of common scours in a 
day or two. 

. Such remedies,, however, should not be. depended upon, for it 
should be remembered that preventing scours by careful, regular 
management is the real secret of successful calf raising. 

White Scours 

This variety of scours is one of the most serious diseases affecting 
calves. It attacks the infant shortly after birth and is usually fatal. 
Prevention by disinfecting the navel cord as soon as the calf is born 
and keeping the cord properly sterilized in this manner is the best pre- 
caution against this deadly disease. 

As soon as a case is noted in the herd the affected calf should be 
isolated, and all milking utensils and calf pens thoroughly cleansed 
and disinfected, so that the disease will not spread through the herd. 



278 Feeding the Dairy Cow 

Some times the formalin or the bismuth-salol treatment recom- 
mended previously will aid in checking white scours but prevention 
and isolation are more to be trusted. 

Pneumonia 

The death loss from pneumonia in young calves is much larger 
than, is usually believed because the trouble is not diagnosed properly. 

Pneumonia results from im,proper ventilation of the calf barn, 
from permitting drafts and from exposure occasioned by radical 
changes of temperature. 

Pneumonia can be absolutely prevented by keeping calves in 
warm, dry, well ventilated quarters and giving them access to warm, 
fresh air and sunshine. 

Calves attacked by pneumonia lose their appetites, breathe hard, 
become fevered, a rattle can be heard in the lungs, and there is usually 
a discharge from the nostrils. 

Pneumonia is often infectious. An affected calf should at once 
be removed from the herd, and stalls cleaned and thoroughly disin- 
fected. Cold compresses should be placed over the lungs, an abun- 
dance of fresh air supplied, and the bowels should be kept in laxative 
condition. A mustard plaster application is the best additional treat- 
ment to be suggested, and as a rule these precautions carefully and 
diligently follow/ed will save the life of the calf, which otherwise will 
certainly be lost. 

Calf Colic 

Overfeeding, giving milk of different temperatures or subjecting 
calves to cold drafts causes calf colic, which results in violent pains 
in the stomach. The calf when attacked becomes restless, and often- 
times kicks and bawls. If the colic is severe prostration follows and 
in a short time the calf dies unless aid is given. 

An excellent preventive of calf colic is an always available sup- 
ply of salt and charcoal, mixed one part of the former and two parts 
of the latter. This may be kept in a frequently cleaned box in the 
calf stall, and where it is offered in this manner it will be surprising 
what a large amount of charcoal and salt is eaten by calves. 

For the calf that becomes colicky a prescription should be pro- 
vided consisting of a teaspoonful of turpentine and a tablespoonful 
of raw linseed oil. This mixture should be given as a drench every 
two hours until the calf regains normal condition, but, as a rule, one 
dose will suffice. 

Blackleg 

This disease affects cattle under two years of age, but usually 
calves under one year old. All cattle men are familiar with the char- 
acteristics of blackleg and realize that it is more prevalent in certain 
sections than in others. 



The Care of the Calf 279 

The only safe and certain method of prevention, as well as the 
most economical method, is to vaccinate calves against the disease. 

The general belief is that calves are more susceptible to blackleg 
if they are thriving especially well or if, after thriving especially well, 
they are permitted to decline in condition rapidly. 

Dehorning Young Calves 

Breeders of purebred cattle as a rule do not favor dehorning 
calves. They much prefer to train the horns while the calf is young 
in the manner most acceptable to the particular breed being raised. 
There is no doubt that the elimination of horns decreases the selling 
price of most breeds of ^iair}^ cattle because a well trained pair of 
proper-sized horns undoubtedly adds to the general appearance. 

Where dehorning is advisable, it should be done while calves are 
3^oung. When two weeks of age a small button may be felt just 
breaking through the skin on the young calf's head. At this time, 
after clipping the hair from around the button and saturating the 
surrounding skin with oil or grease to prevent it being burned, caustic 
potash may be applied. 

Care being taken to wrap the stick of caustic so the fingers will 
not be burned, the button should be rubbed vigorously, making sure 
that the application^is sufficiently thorough that sears or stunted, 
ugly horns will not result. 

For two or three days care should be taken to prevent the calf 
from getting its head wet, for this will cause the caustic to run down 
over the face and possibly into the eyes with serious results. 

Caustic potash will not remove horns at a later date, unless by the 
use of a knife the horny covering is removed. This can be done even 
when the calf is a month old, but applying the treatment at the age 
of 10 days or tw^o weeks is much more successful and much simpler 

Lice 

Calves infested with lice do not thrive. Frequent examinations 
should be made to make sure lice are not present on the calves or in 
the barn. 

If lice are discovered the first thing to. do is to get entirely rid 
of them. 

This necessitates a complete cleaning of the barn and the disin- 
fection of it by thoroughly spraying every crack and corner with a 5 
per cent solution of coal tar dip. The calves should be washed with a 
solution of coal tar disinfectant ranging in strength from 3 to 5 per 
cent. If this is done in cold weather the calves should be rubbed with 
dry cloths and kept blanketed until dry to prevent their catching cold. 
Crude oil may be used instead of coal tar disinfectant by carefully and 
thoroughly rubbing it over every portion of the body. 



280 ' Feeding the Dairy Cow 

These treatments will not kill the nits or eggs that may be pres- 
ent so that the barn disinfection and the treatment of the calves must 
be repeated in seven or eight days. In this manner the calves and 
the premises can be rid of these abominable growth destroyers. 

Ringworm 

It is not at all uncommon for calves to be troubled with ring- 
worm. If left to run its course it will eventually disappear, but in 
the meantime the calf is rendered uncomfortable and unsightly. 

By washing the affected parts of the skin and applying a liquid 
made by dissolving two ounces of sulphate of copper in one gallon of 
boiling water, or by painting the affected part of the skin with tinc- 
ture of iodine the ringworm will be promptly removed. 

Warts 

The appearance of warts on calves is of great frequency. The 
objection to them is that they are unsightly, although there is no 
evidence that they affect the growth of the calf or cause other disturb- 
ances. However, it is best to get rid of them and there are many 
ways of doing so. 

Large warts should be twisted off with the fingers or cut off with a 
scissors, and the roots should be cauterized or painted with iodine. 
If this fails to kill them, a more severe treatment will be necessary. The 
skin and hair surrounding the warts should be greased and the Warts 
burned off by touching them with a feather or swab saturated in nitric 
acid or sulphuric acid. 

Whichever treatment is adopted, two or three applications may 
be necessary, and when the wart is killed the scar should be treated 
with lard or carbolated vaseline to soften it and hasten the growth of 
hair. 

On parts where such severe treatment is not possible, a mixture 
of one part salicylic acid and seven parts collodion should be painted 
on the warts and allowed to dry. In two or three days the dead 
scabs should be removed and the warts again treated. By following 
this treatment the warts will soon disappear without injuring the 
animal in any way. 

Removing Extra Teats 

When the calf is very young examination should be made of the 
udder and teats. Occasionally calves are found which have two teats 
grown together or "webbed." Such calves cannot successfully be 
treated and will never grow into satisfactory cows. They should be 
yealed for they will be good for neither milking nor breeding pur- 
poses. 

Occasionally a rudimentary teat is found growing on one of the 
regular teats. If the calf is allowed to grow to cowhood without treat- 



The Care of the Calf 281 

ment the result is serious. The cow gives milk out of the rudi- 
mentary as w'ell as from, the end of the teat and, even if the influence 
is not adverse in other respects, it certainly makes milking the cow- 
very disagreeable and it is impossible to milk her by hand in a san- 
itary manner. If such a rudimentary appears on a teat it should be 
clipped off close to the teat with a pair of sharp scissors and the 
wound cauterized with caustic potash. It will then heal and give no 
further trouble. 

More often rudimentary teats are found growing between the 
teats and on the rear of the udder. These are not harmful except 
that they detract from the appearance of the cow and serve no useful 
purpose. Therefore, these rudimentary teats should be removed. 
They can easily be clipped off with sharp scissors and the wound 
cauterized or a silk thread may be tied tightly around them close to 
their attachment and they will soon disappear. 

Separate the Calves 

At the age of three or four months male and female calves should 
be placed in separate lots. If kept divided in this manner all danger 
of accidental breeding is avoided. Otherwise an occasional heifer be- 
comes pregnant at so early an age as to handicap her future useful- 
ness. 

Other than this division of the calves, it will be found better to 
allow several calves to run and feed together. The experienced herds- 
man knows that calves eat better, take more exercise and seem to thrive 
better where two or more calves live together than where one lives 

alone. ,,, 

Weaning 

At the age of six or seven months, or sooner if there is a scarcity 
of skim-milk, calves may be weaned. If they have been encouraged 
to do so, they will be feeding well on hay, grain, grass, or silage and 
roots when this age is reached and they w*ill not greatly miss the 
milk. 

They should continue to receive good care, however, and be fed 
so abundantly that growth and development will not be sacrified for 
even a day until they have reached cowhood. 

Fall Calves Best 

Not only for the sake of large and profitable production on the 
part of the cow should calves be born in the fall, but circumstances 
are such that in behalf of the calf itself it is better that it be born in 
the fall rather than at any other season of the year. 

The fall-born calf passes its first six months of life while on milk 
during that portion of the year when it can be kept indoors and when 
time permits giving it the very best care. By the time grass comes 
it is ready to wean and large enough to take exercise on luxuriant 



282 Feeding the Dairy Cow 

pastures when heat and flies are not severe and to be kept very cheaply 
by an additional small amount of grain and hay. By the time the 
calf is a year old and ready to enter winter quarters it has made 
sufficient growth so that it can be wintered the second year very 
cheaply on clover hay, silage, corn stover, and other roughages with 
a small amount of concentrated feed of a character and in such quan- 
tity as will balance the roughage and keep the yearling growing until 
grass comes again. It can then be turned to pasture and required to 
shift largely for itself as long as pastures are good. 

Breeding 

Heifers of the smaller breeds should be bred to freshen at the age 
of 24 months. If they w^ere born in the fall they will freshen the 
second fall follow'ing, which is a distinct advantage. Heifers of the 
larger breeds should not be bred until they are 18 months of age. 
When heifers approach freshening they should be handled in iden- 
tically the same manner as has been advised for preparing cows to 
freshen. Then they will come into cowhood with udders w^ell de- 
veloped and be ready to yield profitably with first calf. 

It is even more essential that an attendant be present when the 
lieifer freshens than it is when older cows freshen. 

For some reason or other, heifers seem to become unduly ex- 
cited when the calf is born and it is not uncommon for them to bawl, 
paw their bedding and handle the calf very roughly, oftentimes going 
so far as to trample the calf to death. If the attendant is present, he 
can quiet the heifer and if necessary, remove the calf to another stall 
and thus save its life. 

It is needless to say that in breaking heifers to milk the milker 
should be quiet and handle the young mother gently, even though 
she may be inclined to kick and otherwise object to being milked. 
Harsh, cruel treatment at this time is liable to ruin the heifer as a 
milk cow for life, while patient and gentle handling will show her 
that she is not to be harmed and she will quickly reconcile herself to 
giying her milk freely. 

Some heifers and cows refuse to give their milk when the calf 
is first taken from them. When this is the case, the trouble can be 
rectified by placing the calf in a stall where the cow can see it. She 
will then give her milk without further trouble. 
The First Lactation Period 

The question of how good a cow the heifer is to develop into is 
largely a question of how well she is handled during her first lactation 
period. Even as speed is developed in trotting-bred horses by re- 
quiring them to trot as fast as they can without harming their fu- 
ture usefulness, even while young, so is milk production encouraged 



The Care of the Calf 



283 



in the cow bred for milk by requiring- her to yield as largely as pos- 
sible without injuring her future usefulness, even when she is young. 

Therefore, it is advisable to start the heifer on a small ration of 
about five pounds of concentrates in addition to her roughage when she 
has been fresh from two to four days and, by increasing her ration 
one-half pound every day as advised in bringing an older cow^ to her 
milk, she is encouraged to give her maximum flow- of milk wdien she 
has been fresh about 30 days. 

Then, if the cow is fed an abundant, well balanced ration, kept in 
just good, thrifty condition and encouraged to milk persistently 
throughout the year, being aided in doing so by surrounding her with 
comfortable environment during the entire year, she w^ill develop the 
habit of persistency and each year following she will respond to proper 
care and feed and milk largely and persistently. 
Cost of Raising Calves 

To properly raise a calf from birth to milking age requires much 
intelligent judgment, labor and expense. This is true in normal 
times and it is doubly true in war times. Various experiments have 
been performed and accurate accounts kept by various experimenters 
to determine the exact cost of raising a calf to the age of two years, 
and all seem to agree that, where exact records are kept of every ex- 
pense, as should be the case, the cost ranges from $60 to $75. 

The following table compiled by Dr. Lindsey from the experi- 
ments of Bennett, Cooper and Trueman shows the cost other than 
for food of a two-vear-old heifer : 



Bennett &; Cooper 



Trueman 



Labor 

Interest on value of heifer. 

Interest on buildings 

Interest on equipment. . . . 

Bedding 

General expense 




$10.00 



2.00 
4.00 



Total . 



$20.51 



$16.00 



With labor as scarce and expensive as it is at the present time, 
the above charges will be found to be quite conservative. 

Dr. Lindsey presents an additional table which includes cost 
other than for food and has compiled the following table wbich shows 
the total net cost of a well fed heifer raised to the age of two years : 



: Bennett & 
Cooper 
(Wisconsin) 


Trueman 
(Connecticut) 


Lindsey 
(Mass.) 


Initial value of heifer. . 


$ 7 00 


$ 4.00* 
55.00 
16.00 


$ 4.00 
57.73 




40 83 




'0 51 


20.51 








Total 

Credit by manure. 


68.34 

. . > 8 00 


75.00 
5.00 


82.00 
8.00 








Total net cost 


! $60.34 


$70.00 


$74.24 







*Added by Lindsey. 



284 Feeding the Dairy Cow 

This definite information, showing the cost of raising a heifer to 
be more than is generally realized, should not prove to be a dis- 
couragement and cause dairymen to believe they cannot afford to 
raise heifer calves. On the contrary, the information should impress 
them with the true value of their heifers and cows and cause them 
to think seriously regarding the kind of heifer calves they will raise 
in the future. 

It costs no more to raise a good heifer calf than a poor one and 
very little less to raise a stunted, worthless calf than one that is 
vigorous, well grown and possessed of its real inherent dairy quali- 
ties to the extent that it will be worth its cost of raising and more 
when it reaches cowhood. 

No better argument could be cited in proof of the advisability of 
using only good, purebred sires from highly productive ancestry. 

It is not uncommon to hear dairymen state that they cannot pur- 
chase as good cows as they can raise, and the statement is very true. 
It is the height of folly for a dairyman who has been in business for 
years to be compelled to depend upon purchasing cows or to be 
content with milking cows of a mediocre sort. 

The question is often asked, "Where can I secure good cows?" 
The answer is self-evident, and there is only one logical answer. It 
is, ''Breed and raise them." The one who depends solely upon milk 
production for his profit is not likely to fare extra well over a long 
period of years. He who is sufficiently thoughtful to see into the 
future and to know what good cows he can breed, raise and develop 
by using only the best sires, raising the heifer calves by the most ac- 
ceptable methods and developing their dairy characteristics so that 
they will prove more efficient milk producers than their mothers, will 
invariably find that the most profitable phase of dairying results from 
the surplus cows he has for sale each year. 

No better plan can be followed by the dairyman or breeder than 
that of using such excellent sires, raising and developing his heifers 
so well that each generation finds his herd more productive than it 
was the generation before. This enables him to sell each year his 
older cows, keep the younger ones and breed upward. 

This is not only the profitable plan, but it is the system which 
adds pleasure to dairying. There is no man so devoid of pride but 
that he will be highly gratified if, after dairying for a number of years, 
he can go into his barn and find there a herd of cows such that no herd 
is superior and every one of them bred, raised and developed by him- 
self. This is not only possible ; it is practical ; and is but the certain 
result of systematic, intelligent breeding. When it is so evident that 
superior, highly profitable cows can be bred from mediocre ones 
merely by the use of good sires and satisfactory methods of care, feed 



The Care of the Calf 285 

and management, the one who contents himself with continuously 
milking common, lowly productive cows throughout a lifetime writes 
his own indictment. If it were necessary it would be excusable. Be- 
cause it is not necessary and because good herds can be developed 
merely by adding thought and intelligent effort with scarcely no ad- 
ditional expense, there can be no logical excuse for not building up a 
herd superior in productivity and uniformity of type and conforma- 

^'^^^' Raising Bull Calves 

He who is a good enough breeder to raise service bulls for others 
should be proud of his vocation. There is no more laudable occupa- 
tion than the breeding and raising of sires that will aid others in build- 
ing their herds better. On the other hand, he who raises bull calves 
from grade cows, or even from poor purebred cows, in either event 
sired by poorly bred sires, and then passes them on to breed some one 
else's herd downward is an undesirable citizen. 

Therefore, bull calves that are not really fit for reproducing their 
own likenesses and the likenesses of their ancestors should be vealed 
as early in life as possible. It is unprofitable to raise them for beef 
if they are dairy bred and statistics show that, under conditions which 
have existed for the past several years, it is not profitable to raise 
them for beef even thpugh they are beef bred unless especially favor- 
able conditions for beef cattle raising and feeding exist on the farm. 

If the calf is well bred and a good individual it should be raised 
and placed where it can serve in bettering the production of a dairy 
herd. 

Bull calves are raised quite like heifer calves until they are six 
or eight months of age. Then the time comes when they realize their 
sex. Bull rings should be placed in the youngsters' noses and train- 
ing should begin that they will be well mannered fellows as far as 
manners can be educated into bulls. They should be taught to lead. 
This is usually accomplished by taking them to water with a lead rope 
instead of driving them. Bulls, even when young, should be handled 
firmly, but not roughly. It is a mistake to unnecessarily abuse bulls, 
for this generates in them an antagonistic temperament and causes 
them to become unruly. One should never play with bulls, even 
when they are calves ; neither should one go to the other extreme and 
abuse them. 

It is well to tie the calves up at the age of six or eight months 
to teach them that they can be handled and that they do possess a 
master determined to control them. Bulls, like heifers, should be 
kept thriving and growing from birth to serviceable age. 

When a year old light service may be given them. One or two 
cows a week with only one service for each is as heavy as they should 
be worked at first. 



286 Feeding the Dairy Cow 

By feeding him well and keeping him growing the bull may be 
put into regular service at the age of 18 months, provided he is kept 
away from the regular herd and permitted to serve each cow only 
once. 

The most ruinous practice, and one which undoubtedly accounts 
for many of the mediocre animals sired by purebred sires, is permitting 
the bull to run with the herd. Not only does this result in poor 
offspring, but it uselessly wears out the sire that would remain serv- 
iceable many years longer if he was intelligently handled. 

When the young bull goes into service his care, feed arid manage- 
ment should be the same as that described in a previous chapter for 
service bulls. 

When raised for sale the bull should be raised in identically the 
same way as the one which is to be retained on the farm for service, 
and when selling time comes he should be in the best possible condi- 
tion, so that he will please the prospective buyer and later prove 
satisfactory, producing for his purchaser offspring better than the 
cows to which he is bred. 



CHAPTER XLI. 

FITTING ANIMALS FOR SALE 

Health, large production, rapid growth, complete development and 
regularity of reproduction are the factors uppermost in the considera- 
tion of the breeder and dairyman as they conduct the daily operations 
incident to care, feed and management of cattle. 

The successful one, however, cannot expect to always keep for 
himself every animal he raises. If his herd is pure'bred he has young 
bulls to dispose of occasionally and, be the herd purebred or grade, 
there comes a time when surplus females are to be sold. 

Investigations show that when feed, labor and equipment are 
expensive, large profits do not accrue from milk production alone, 
even where good cows are kept under the most approved conditions. 
In many businesses the profits made on the principal articles manu- 
factured are small. The large gains come from the by-products. And 
.CO it is with dairying. Were it not for the manure, the skim-milk 
and the calves, dairying would be a rather discouraging business, as 
is testified to by those who fail to utilize to best advantage these by- 
products. 

The skim-milk and manure pay best when properly conserved and 
used on the farm but surplus stock must be sold to realize gain. Grant- 
ing the correctness of the statement that the fundamental purpose of 
the dairy cow is to produce milk, and butterfat, there is an economic 
fact that must be recognized if large annual profits are to be expected 
with certainty, and that is that the yearly increase of the herd must 
return a fair income either in cash, or by increasing the cattle assets 
of the dairy. It is for this reason that excellence of conformation, 
beauty of contour, richness of quality, uniformity of type and abun- 
dance of style are to be prized almost, if not quite, as highly as 
largeness and economy of production. It is for this reason that all 
operations pertaining to breeding, feeding and managing the dairy 
herd should be conducted on the big broad basis of producing milk 
and butterfat largely and economically while at the same time the 
herd is being built up along lines that will make all surplus animals — 
male and female — marketable at prices which will insure, beyond a 
doubt, profits worth while in return for efforts and intelligence ex- 
pended. This means that animals offered for sale either privately or 
at auction should be so fitted and conditioned that the best qualifica- 
tions they possess will be readily apparent to the prospective pur- 
chaser. 



288 Feeding the Dairy Cow 

Fortunately, the care, feed and management which insure desir- 
able production, growth, development and reproduction also develop 
in the animal the best possible condition for sale purposes. The well 
bred cow that is producing largely is always in demand at a favorable 
price. The healthy heifer or heifer calf that is vigorous, thrifty and 
growing well always finds a favorable market, and the young pure- 
bred bull backed up by acceptable records indicating that he will, sire 
calves that Avill grow into large, handsome, highly productive cows 
sells quickly as a result of judicious advertising. 

And yet there are various little things requiring small effort; 
trifling expense and very little additional time that add perceptibly 
to the attractiveness of animals and, therefore, to their selling prices. 
It is desirable, but not always practicable, to keep the herd always in 
attractive form, and it is essential to complete success to specially fit 
those individuals that are for sale. 

Taking it for granted that the suggestions of the former chapters 
have been followed, such animals will be in prime condition for adding 
the few finishing touches. These should begin with daily grooming. 
Animals must be clean to be attractive. The curry comb should be 
used on the flanks, legs and belly only. The rest of the body should 
be cleaned with a soft brush and flannel rag. Vigorous yet gentle 
rubbing and grooming remove dirt and dust from the hide and hair, 
encourage oily secretions, and thereby soften the hide and hair, giving 
a bright, lustrous appearance indicative of quality. Animals like to 
be groomed and nothing else quiets and gives them confidence in 
their caretakers so quickly. , Blanketing with a light cover, so made 
that it will remain on, keeps the animal clean, quickens the arrival of 
the handling qualities desired in the hair and hide and eliminates the 
necessity of clipping the entire body. Individuals naturally hard- 
hided and coarse-haired should wear a heavy blanket under the light 
one, and some animals should, wear two, or even three,* especially if 
the weather is cool. 

Well mannered animals always outsell unruly or awkward ones, 
other things being equal. Every animal offered for sale should be 
provided with a neat halter and lead rope or strap and be taught to 
lead and stand posed at the end of this strap when being examined. A 
decent price should not be expected for an animal that stands with 
head down, with feet in four wrong directions, with back lowered, 
with rump drooping or with belly drawn up, when it is realized that 
but a few minutes a day for a short period of time is required to lead 
the same animal to water and to teach it to stand at the eiid of the lead 
strap with head up, fieet under the body, back straight and rump ele- 
vated, showing at its best. 

When the animal has been conditioned and trained even to this 



Fitting Animals for Sale 289 

slight, inexpensive degree, its value has been enhanced no less than 
10 per cent, and oftentimes 100 per cent may be added. 

More can yet be done if desired, but not much. A pair of power 
clippers is an excellent investment on every farm, for as much differ- 
ence can be made in the appearance of an animal by clipping its head, 
ears and tail as can be made in the appearance of a long-haired man by 
the use of the same sort of an instrument in cutting his hair. But a few 
minutes is required for performing the task. It is w^ell to clip the 
belly of dairy cattle that their mammary veins will show to best ad- 
vantage and so that the milk wells can be located with greatest ease. 
Cows should also have all long hairs clipped from their udders, for 
this adds to the appearance of cleanliness and quality thereof. Es- 
pecially does clipping add to the attractiveness of the dehorned cow's 
head, which is homely indeed in the eyes of most prospective pur- 
chasers if long, ragged hairs take the place of well trained, small, in- 
curving horns. 

But all horns are not assets. Long, sharp, misshapen horns de- 
tract from the selling value. The shrewd cattle man sees to it that 
every calf's horns start growing in the right direction and in accord- 
ance with the requirements of the score card of the breed his herd rep- 
resents. If necessary he employs the use of horn trainers, which can 
always be secured at reasonable prices. As some cows and bulls 
grow old their horns naturally grow long and unsightly, often caus- 
ing the wearers to become troublesome among their companions. 
Whether such animals are to be sold or kept, the sharp points should 
be sawed off and with rasp and file the horns should be reduced in size 
and rounded at the ends. Very long, coarse, ugly horns can be 
shortened and made sightly by filing the ends down to the quick once 
a month. After the horns are reduced in size and filed into proper 
shape, sandpaper, followed with emery paper, will smooth away the 
scratches, and these, followed with metal polish applied vigorously 
with a flannel cloth, will make of the vicious, long, crooked horn, 
which detracts from value, a sightly attachment which will add to 
the appearance and, therefore, add to the demand for the animal and 
to her selling price. 

It may appear to the ultra-practical dairyman and breeder that 
these suggestions are far-fetched and that much time, effort and ex- 
pense would be incurred in carrying them out ; but it should be remem- 
bered that it is impossible to prepare a cow so she looks better than 
she really is, that only by preparing her to look her best can she be 
made to create a true impression on the prospective purchaser and 
bring for her owner her full value. After going to all the expense of 
time, effort and study to breed good cattle it is wasteful to sacrifice 
them by refusing to add the few hours and little expense necessary 



290 Feeding the Dairy Cow 

to show them posed gracefully at the. end of a neat lead rope, with 
horns trimmed and polished, heads, tails, udders and bellies clipped, 
and their hair and hide conditioned to show the true quality they 
possess. 

The ones who profit most in the diamond industry are those who 
secure the diamonds in the rough and by cutting and polishing them 
reveal the real beauty and value they possess. So it is with cattle. 
Will you sell yours at a loss after years of patient effort in breeding, 
raising and developing, and let some one else in a few hours double 
their value by training and conditioning them ; or will you add a few 
hours to the years you have already spent and earn for yourself the 
added profit in dollars and reputation? 

Preparing for Auction 

It is doubly necessary to prepare cattle that are to be sold at 
auction. When selling privately the prospective purchaser may listen 
to reasons why the animals appear untidy ; it may be possible to con- 
vince him that they are large, economical producers and worthy to 
enter his herd, but cattle sell quickly at auction and the buyer bids 
according to the way the animal and its pedigree look to him on that 
day. There is no time for excuses or explanations. It has been many 
times truly said that good care, feed and management command bet- 
ter prices at the ringside of an auction sale than aywhere else. 

To prepare a herd for auction the seller should plan far ahead. 
All females of milking age should be as nearly fresh and milking as 
largely as it is possible to have them, for, unwise as it is in many 
respects, a buyer will pay more for fresh cows than for those that are 
dry and soon to freshen, although in the latter case he could buy two 
for the sum he is willing to pay for one. However, most buyers fear 
to trust their judgment and take the risk of buying a dry cow, pre- 
ferring to purchase one fresh and showing at her best. Therefore, it is 
but the part of wisdom for the seller to recognize the demand of the 
market and have his supply fit the demand as closely as possible. 

There have been times w^hen milking cows solely for manufactur- 
ing milk and butterfat was unprofitable. There have been times when 
raising cattle for sale only was unprofitable. The rule is that profits 
accruing from one without regard to the other are doubtful. But 
history does not and probably never will tell of the time when it has 
been or will be unprofitable to breed and develop good, large, hand- 
some, highly productive dairy cattle, encourage them by efficient care, 
feed and management to produce at their best and, by proper fitting 
and advertising, sell the annual surplus from the herd for what it is 
really worth according to the demands of the market. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 

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